


Lying is the most fun...

by Connah



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, Homophobic Themes, M/M, Mention of nonconsensual action, Mingyu is an idiot, Sequel, Slow Burn, What's new, lotsa flashbacks at times, mature content, neutral ending but its a sequel so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 08:52:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 71,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17680313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Connah/pseuds/Connah
Summary: A little lie never hurt anyone, right? How old you were when you had your first kiss, what you did last summer. Mingyu managed to keep it all in line until his past caught up with him.





	1. I know what you did last summer

**Author's Note:**

> First I want to thank my friend Malika for reading this first and encouraging me to post it. Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors, my English sucks. Usual disclaimers apply.

Mingyu always had a little web of white lies. All of his life these lies had never caused insult or injury. That was until one of them caught up with him.

 

High school AU Mingyu x Wonwoo

 

 

A little white lie never hurt anyone, right? “How old were you when you had your first kiss?” “How many girlfriends have you had?” “What did you do this summer?” In fact these lies over time had made Mingyu the 17 year old he was today. Entering his senior year nothing short with becoming captain of the football team, scholarships already metaphorically knocking at his door. Not to mention he was popular as fuck. But that had taken time, hard work, skill… and a few white lies here and there.

 

**Aged 14, freshman year high school**.

 

“How old were you when you had your first kiss?”

 

“Eleven” Mingyu answered.

 

‘Whooaaaa’ the boys in the locker room cawed around him, suddenly flocking like birds.

 

“Yeah, first year of middle school” Tone not complacent in the slightest as he pulled his shirt back on to his body. He was good at that. At sounding totally modest when lying. It made him sound more believable, people never boasted about the truth. It also made him seem cool, calm, and most definitely trustworthy.

 

“Don’t worry though, it’s not a big deal.” He added, the already tall teenager towering a little more than average over the rest of his classmates. “It happens when it happens.”

 

He tried to walk away from the hoard of angst filled pre-pubescent boys before they dug too deep.

 

“What was it like?” “Who was it with?” “Is she at this school?” “Does she have any friends?”

 

Mingyu simply curled his lips to himself, letting them silently know he was about to answer any thorough questions. Staying true to the well known verse ‘Never kiss and tell’.

 

What did he gain out of lying about having his first kiss before anyone else? Simple. Notoriety. In a grade full of boys suddenly ‘finding themselves’ even something as mundane as a kiss got them all riled up. Now everyone wanted to know how he even had the courage to talk to a girl, never mind pull a move on her. Yes… Notoriety.

 

**Aged 15, end of summer vacation**.

 

“Mingyu! Where’d you go all summer? We barely saw you!” A friend, Minghao, called out as the now definitely advanced height teenager approached them in the park where all the kids hung out.

 

Mingyu simply shrugged. A man of not many words already, that had also given him the ‘hard to get’ reputation he often came with for girls. Ever since that first lie went around about him being the first guy to already to have had his first kiss a lot more flew around. Not all from his mouth, some definitely embellished by people he didn’t even know but they weren’t exactly unwelcome. He was now apparently some mini freshman Casanova who had kissed more girls than you can count on two hands, even french kissing and he heard he even reached 2nd base one time. He didn’t deny it, therefore everyone assumed for it to be true.

 

“You know him, Mr. Smooth. He probably has been busy getting down and dirty all summer.” Another voice, Jihoon, chipped in.

 

The laughter erupted from their mouths, Mingyu smirking and letting out a chuckle too, once again no words slipping through. He didn’t even need to open his mouth anymore for rumors to start spreading.

 

“Oh? He’s keeping schtum, it must’ve happened!” Seungcheol pointed, stunning a few others into howling like wolves until Mingyu’s silence finally broke.

 

“Oh you know me. I leave town every summer, do a little soul searching, let loose some steam.” None of his friends were convinced. All leaning forward as if to pull more information out of him, they were like a dog with a bone and Mingyu was teasing them.

 

Rolling his eyes and tutting at them he conceded “I might have met a girl or two.”

 

“OR TWO?” Suddenly Soonyoung jumped up from the grass all the boys were lounging on. “You mean, like a threesome?” His actions were followed by the movement of a few others in anticipation of Mingyu’s answer.

 

“What? No, no that’s-” Mingyu managed to shake off, knowing that even that lie was too bold… for the time being. “Just you know, at a party… things can happen.”

 

The teens howled once more, Mingyu finally cracking enough to join them comfortably on the grass.

 

**Aged 16, half way through sophomore year**

 

“So… how many girls have you been with?” Her small voice piped up. Mingyu, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, extended away to be able to look at her face.

 

“Huh? Do you mean like-”

 

“Yeah.” She interrupted. “I-I mean. Out of all your friends you’re the most… experienced, right? I just wondered… How many?”

 

Mingyu for once felt uncomfortable. Showing as his shoulders tightened, arm removing itself from her body, his eyebrows furrowing as he began to think of how he should answer this. One false move and everything since freshman year could unravel. She could tell everyone he was lying, he was a fraud, a fake a-

 

“If that’s too invasive maybe you can just tell me… how many girlfriends?” She quickly butted in, relief flooding through all of Mingyu’s body as he felt his heart begin to return to its normal rate.

 

“That’s basically the same thing, right?”

 

“Yeah… Kinda.” He half agreed. His answer totally open to her interpretation. Did it mean more? Less? His moved a little in his spot to regain comfort. “Five?”

 

She looked up to his face, studying him for a moment, not in disbelief but almost as if she was silently thanking him for sharing the answer with her.

 

“Then…” Her word gave Mingyu a knot in his throat. “Why haven’t you kissed me yet?”

 

“Oh.” Once again relief filling his body. She wasn’t about to interrogate him for names or locations or length of time. But now he still couldn’t be honest.

 

‘The reason I haven’t kissed you is because I’ve never kissed a girl before, in fact, I don’t even-’ Mingyu even paused his own inner monologue as he snapped back to reality and realized his current girlfriend was waiting for an answer.

  
“Well I guess I just didn’t think you wanted to.” He replied. Her look was one of confusion but a small smile on her lips made him think she was definitely hooked, line, and sinker for whatever he had to say.

 

“We’ve been dating two weeks! Of course I want to kiss you!” She practically giggled, throwing herself against her boyfriends arm and chest in the process.

 

His arm instinctively covered her once more, laughing a little out of how easy that was to deal with. “Oh okay, well then-”

 

**Aged 16, end of junior year.**

 

“Coach!” Mingyu shouted, panting harshly as he had just finished running a lap on the track field that their football coach had the team running laps on.

 

“Mingyu, you’re not getting lazy are you?” The serious yet playful tone of his coach rang to him, making him laugh as his lungs stung a little.

 

“Not at all, coach. I was just wondering-”

 

“Who was going to be captain now that Lee is graduating?” The coach folded his arms, eyeing Mingyu up and down despite the now 6’ almost fully fledged man stood before him practically puppy eyed as he waited for a response.

 

“I haven’t decided yet.” Mingyu’s eyes flickered down to the ground at those words. Not exactly heart broken but it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

 

“But-” Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, heart beating harder in anticipation what the ‘but’ could mean.

 

“You show commitment over this summer and you will be my top pick beginning of next season.” Mingyu’s eyes widened, half dorky grin on his face but he didn’t want to be too certain just yet.

 

“Join a football camp or something this summer vacation. You already get people to listen to you just fine, you just gotta improve your technique.” The coach’s smile was incredibly sincere, like he really believed in Mingyu. Just like every one else he had ever told a lie to.

 

“You got it! 100% committed, coach!” His smile so wide and filled with promise that he was never going to fulfill of course.

 

**Now** : Aged 17, start of senior year.

 

The air still humid as students packed their way into the school. Cliques formed in packs in various places across the school yard and parking lot as groups of friends caught up with what happened over summer. Mingyu was back. He was at his peak. The top of his game. The was his year at the top of the food chain that is also known as high school. And how hard he was worked to get here.

 

Familiar faces greeted him in the hallways as he passed through them, some he knew personally but many not at all. Kim Mingyu was kind of a legend in these halls. God knows everyone had heard of his ‘escapades’, some of which Mingyu himself didn’t even know of. At this point in his life he had just learned to accept whatever people were saying about him, unless of course it was totally insane. He was in his neighbor’s pool with three college girls? Sure. But he was pre-accepted into a fraternity at MIT due to his playboy reputation? Hm, maybe just a bit of a stretch. Mingyu made sure to keep his lies in line. Everything chronological and in sync with his timing and behavior. What helped was that his friends seemed just as eager to help aid his lies, albeit unknowingly, and they were quick to jump to his aid whenever somebody even slightly doubted one of his claims.

 

“No way! Mingyu isn’t a liar, I’ve known him since preschool!” Soonyoung had been known to shout more than once. Soonyoung, his best friend, was probably the most vocal of all of them but he was definitely the one with least action. That was down to Seungcheol and Jihoon. His high school friends. The duo were always the one causing fights over his words. Someone thought Mingyu was too cocky? They silenced them. Tried to spread ugly rumors like Mingyu having a chlamydia? Think again! Mingyu owed a lot to them even if he didn’t condone of their actions, but he never stopped them. Then there was Minghao. The friend he had known since the start of middle school. The quietest of his group of what he considered to be his close friends. Of course he still engaged in everything the others did. Minghao’s ears were not impervious to Mingyu’s words and he loved to guess what Mingyu had been up to himself too, but when it came to comparing him to the others; yes Minghao was definitely quiet. Knowing he was going to be faced with them all soon enough he focused, turning into the classroom, ready to take his usual spot near the back of the class.

 

“There he is!” Seungcheol clapped loudly with his large hands. The sound echoing through the already buzzing room caused a couple of other students to notice him and greet the king of senior year with a smile as he approached his friends.

 

“Ready to rule the year?” Soonyoung boasted, Seungcheol’s hand smacking Mingyu on his back as he joined them, gathered around a desk placed by the window near the back of the room which just so happened to be Mingyu’s.

 

Mingyu didn’t answer, simply grinning at his friends as he sat down, they all crowded around him like kids at a campfire waiting to hear a scary story.

 

“So? What fun did you get up to this summer?” Soonyoung was the first to inquire. Minghao’s dark smirk also intently listening, followed by Jihoon and Seungcheol practically over his shoulder.

 

“Nothing guys, come on.” He sighed a little, stretching his long arms out over the edge of his desk. “You know I was busy at football camp.”

 

This answer was met with groans of stiffness, clearly the lack of exciting details bothered his friends too much to take it as his answer.

 

“You trying to tell us this football camp wasn’t near like, a cheerleading camp or something?” Seungcheol huffed a little, giving Mingyu a playful shove, making the taller boy back to push Seungcheol away from him. Seungcheol had that habit of being overly touchy without realizing it. He was always pushing, or playfully hitting someone or something. That’s why he was perfect in the football pitch where he could openly take out his need to tackle people without as many repercussions. In fact that’s where they met. Their freshmen year the two of them tried out for the team together and Seungcheol stuck to him like glue after that.

 

“Not even a music camp? You know those music geeks like to get freaky” Jihoon added, learning a sneaky laugh from the other boys.

 

“Wouldn’t you know.” Mingyu retorted, once again not elaborating on his summer activities.

 

“Alright class, settle down! Summer is officially over, please go to your desks!” The teachers voice called over all of the students. Soonyoung expressed his distaste loudly in a yawn, it was barely three minutes into their final year and Soonyoung was tired. The group begrudgingly dispersed from around Mingyu’s desk, Jihoon muttering under his breath about how at lunch they were going to continue this conversation.

 

This was perfect. Everything had already fallen into place. Mingyu was well on the way to making their senior year go exactly how he had always planned it. Smirking to himself he turned to the window. First period back at school was usually monotonous anyway. The teaching giving them a pep talk on how this year is ‘defining’ and ‘make every moment count’ as if they didn’t say the same every year. But Mingyu was already ahead of that plan in his own mind.

 

“And we have a new student joining us today. Another one to add to the graduation book, so please make him feel welcome.” As far as Mingyu was concerned, there was no noise in the classroom. He was very happy letting his mind drift as he stared out of the window. The sky clear and blue, briskly warm yet the humidity made it uncomfortable to be outside for more than twenty or so minutes. He thanks god-

“- Wonwoo.”

 

‘Hah, funny name that. Wonwoo.’ Mingyu snorted in his mind. His perfectly aligned jaw cupped in the palm on his hand to keep him steady. ‘Unusual name. In fact, I only know one person with that name… Oh no-’ The sudden and sheer panic hit Mingyu’s face instantly with that realization. Eyes widening his almost snapped his neck turning to look at the front of the classroom.

 

For that split moment he saw him, Wonwoo was smiling that usual thin lined, unimpressed yet still polite smile. Wonwoo’s eyes slowly looking over the classroom, for the first time ever in Mingyu’s life he wished he wasn’t six foot tall and handsome as fuck. And then it happened. Wonwoo’s eyes finally finding Mingyu’s, not instantly recognising whatever flurry of emotions it was swimming in Mingyu’s eyes right now, and Wonwoo couldn’t help it as Mingyu’s name escaped his mouth.

 

“Mingyu.” Not a question. Not a rise or fall in tone. It was flat, a sound of recognition. He knew him too.

 

* * *

  
AN: This chapter was to give a quick hindsight into how Mingyu had come to gain his reputation! All the little lies mount up to create a persona of a man who is Kim Mingyu. All the lies will tie into the story later down the line so try to remember them!

 

P.S I write smaller chapters than a lot of writers. Sorry if you don’t enjoy that, but I find if I write chapters too large I get bored and end up quitting rip. So for convenience, I’m keeping them short.

 

 

 

 


	2. Do you still have my number?

“What the fuck was up with that?” Jihoon laughed, letting his lunch tray smack the table as he sat down, opposite Soonyoung and Mingyu, who was currently pushing fries around his tray with a fork.

 

“MinGyU!” Soonyoung laughed in a stupid voice, enunciating every sound of Mingyu’s name, totally unlike how Wonwoo had done it in class. “You been cheating on me at these camps, huh? You got yourself a new best friend?” Soonyoung elbowed Mingyu to get a rouse out of him, which just prompted Mingyu to let go of his fork. The plastic clashing with the tray it fell on.

 

“Ooh, someone’s touchy.” Seungcheol laughed, taking a chunk of fries from his tray with a bare hand and pushing them into his mouth. “That nerd steal your girlfriend at football camp?”

 

“No way did he go to football camp. He looks like his leg would break if it kicked a ball!” Jihoon laughed, causing the other two to laugh along with him as Minghao finally joined them.

 

“Either way, he sounded like he knew you.” Minghao added, drawing the conversation back to its original point. Minghao was very good at that. He was almost like the mediator of the group most of the time. Definitely the one with the most insight. Mingyu had a feeling Minghao knew a lot more than he let on. He caught a glimpse of Minghao’s test results a few times, he was always scoring 99% if not 100% but he never mentioned it. Probably because no one would actually care how well he did on a test just as much as if he failed it.

 

“Yeah, so what’s up with that? You guys have a run in at the parking lot?” Finally Jihoon said something that wasn’t totally crazy.

 

“Yeah, just this morning. He looked lost. I thought I would help him.” Mingyu finally answered. Picking his fork up again, this time with some fries on it he finally took a bite.

 

“Still doesn’t explain why he knew your name.” Minghao’s said. His eyes looking up to Mingyu, who instantly returned the look with a glare of his own. Silently telling Minghao to ‘shut the fuck up’.

 

“Yeah, fair point!” Soonyoung loudly agreed, almost banging on the table with his hand.

 

“Well he is a legend!” Seungcheol boasted, pointing at Mingyu as he continued to talk “He got pre-accepted to a fraternity, you know? No hazing or anything!” Seungcheol’s allegation met with agreeing mumbles from the others but Mingyu quickly stunted it.

 

“No that wasn’t true, I told you that.” He shook his head, drinking the last of his water and thus deciding he was finished eating and with this conversation too. “I haven’t even applied to any colleges yet anyway.”

 

“What?” Jihoon quizzed “You’re trying to tell me you haven’t received any offers yet?”

 

“Alright, Einstein, we get it. You got early acceptance.” Soonyoung rolled his eyes heavily at the shortest friend.

 

“Musical Einstein to you, idiot.” Jihoon bit back quickly before turning back to Mingyu. “You’re telling me, the Kim Mingyu, captain of the football team-”

 

“I’m not captain yet.” Mingyu butted in, but it just caused Seungcheol to laugh and chime in himself.

 

“You might as well be! Coach said you go to summer camp and it’s practically yours! And you were there all summer, you didn’t even fucking text any one of us, you were having that much fun!”

 

Mingyu smiled sheepishly to brush that comment off. Sure he hadn’t meant to ignore his friends the whole of summer vacation but he had been having fun. Just… not at football camp like everyone thought he did.

 

“WHICH REMINDS ME-” Soonyoung burst out loud, but Mingyu was already a step ahead of him. Knowing fully well his loud friend was about to launch into the topic of what exactly Mingyu got up to all summer he picked his tray up and prepared to leave.

 

“Whoops would you look at that? Looks like it’s time to leave, see ya!” His lengthy legs carrying him quickly away from the table he ditched his tray and quickly exited the cafeteria into the less noisy hallway.

 

He could almost sigh a sound of relief. Knowing he had at least a good twenty minutes still until his next class Mingyu headed outside for some fresh air. Clear his mind a little. Of course the humidity lingering from summer made sure less students came out. The whole school was air conditioned, who wouldn’t want to be inside right now? Which meant of course Mingyu could finally be left alone. Or so he thought. Following the outskirt of the building to where he knew there was some shade in the L shaped corner where the back of the gym met auditorium he froze. Fuck he just couldn’t catch a break today, could he?

 

Wonwoo sat motionless on the grass. Half eaten sandwich inside a plastic tupperwear box next to him, a book on his lap. At first he didn’t notice the lanky goof in front of him but soon the tension radiating from Mingyu must have alerted him he was here.

 

“Mingyu.” He repeated just as plainly as he did in the classroom, except this time there was less shock in his voice. He looked up to him from his black hair, reading glasses being the only thing stopping his hair from getting into his eyes. Mingyu gulped dryly.

 

“Wonwoo.” His voice was so low it almost cracked and he thanked god that it didn’t because that would have been too embarrassing. Mingyu caught the corner of Wonwoo’s lip raise shortly before he turned his head back down to his book.

 

“So you do remember me.” He stated, head turning a little to read the right sided page of his book. Mingyu didn’t know what was better, Wonwoo staring at him or Wonwoo not paying attention to him at all. Both seemed impossible to deal with right now as Mingyu struggled to get even a few words out at the rate a normal conversation is supposed to flow.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sounding a little defensive, but Wonwoo continued to look unfazed.

 

“Nothing.” He said first. Flicking to the next page but before he continued reading he reached for the bookmark which was on a page previously to where he was now. He placed it neatly at his page and closed his book, still not looking up to Mingyu just yet.

 

“Just before in class you stared at me like you had seen a ghost.”

 

“I just didn’t expect you here. At my school.” He managed to regain a normal pacing of words. That was until Wonwoo sighed through his nose and looked up to him, causing Mingyu’s chest to half constrict in panic. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“Well I didn’t know it was your school.” Well.. that was obvious, Mingyu thought in the aftermath. The two of them had never actually discussed specifics about Wonwoo’s education before.

 

“I thought you would’ve enrolled in a school a little closer to…where you live.”

 

“My parents did some research on schools in the county area and apparently this was the best one within a 45 minute drive… so here I am.” Slowly Wonwoo stood up. He was tall too, maybe two inches shorter than Mingyu, but he was skinnier. Definitely. Wonwoo was thin, and he always wore jeans which seemed to accentuate that. Skinny, usually black, jeans which clung to his legs. Mingyu never saw the fascination in skinny jeans, but apparently it was a trend with some guys. Suddenly it occurred to him that Wonwoo was stood in front of him, and it prompted Mingyu to scan the area with concern quickly to make sure no one was secretly following him. In other words, Seungcheol wasn’t following him.

 

It caused Wonwoo to snort. “Expecting someone? Clearly not me?”

 

Mingyu choked on his spit a little “No- No, I’m- Not expecting anyone. It’s just no one knows-”

 

“No one knows about-”

 

Mingyu quickly cut Wonwoo off from that sentence. “No one knows what happened during summer vacation, yes.”

 

The was a strained silence for a moment. Mingyu realizing quickly exactly how that sounded and his mind going crazy, wanting to apologize, but it was almost like his mouth wasn’t abiding to that.

 

“I mean, I get it. If you-” Wonwoo monotonously began to say, but suddenly Mingyu’s mouth began to work once more and he cut him off again.

 

“No it’s not that. I-” _Riiiiiiing_. The five minute warning bell for classes rang, catching both of them off guard, but only Mingyu jumping despite being the one who should be used to the sound. He cursed inwardly, of fucking course, perfect timing.

 

“Can we talk later? I have to go-” This time it was Wonwoo’s turn to interrupt.

 

“Yeah. You still have my number, right?”

 

…

 

“Yeah.”

 

Mingyu felt like he had sprinted to class after that encounter. His mind pounding with the sound of blood and heart banging against his ribcage… was he getting sick? He certainly felt dizzy and like he needed to lay down right now. But sadly that was not an option, especially because this next class had his best friend in it; Soonyoung.

 

Woodshop. Not exactly the most exciting of classes, nor the safest. What could go wrong with a bunch of seventeen year olds and giant automatic saws? Of course every woodshop classroom came with horror stories of students leaving with less digits than they entered with, but Mingyu quite enjoyed being able to craft and create things. He had never been the most creative of kids. Not even his lies were creative. They were simply just every day life lies. That’s what made them so believable. They weren’t extravagant or delirious, they worked just perfectly. That was… up until now. Mingyu had always done so well to make sure the strands of his web of lies crossed just perfectly. Interlacing with each other in order. But now that was threatened as one of the threads had followed him back.

 

He was locked deep inside his own thoughts he didn’t even see Soonyoung come in until it was too late. Shouting down his friend’s ear Soonyoung definitely caught his attention that way.

 

“HEY MINGYU!”

 

“Jesus, fuck Soonyoung. A simple hey works too, you know.” He sneered, but the platinum blonde boy was unbothered. That was Soonyoung’s ‘thing’ his rapidly changing hair color, his unpredictable fashion. One day he was out in track pants and a sweatband, the next skinny jeans and a leather jacket. Simply put, Soonyoung was just a will of his own and there was absolutely no telling him anything he didn’t want to hear.

 

“So the usual, tonight?” Soonyoung continued in a normal tone as if it hadn’t just almost screamed the classroom down. For a moment Mingyu looked confused, but just as quickly as he remembered what ‘the usual’ meant Soonyoung clarified anyway.

 

“Tacos and unlimited soda as Casa Diablo!” Soonyoung took his seat near one of the worktop desks. Sitting on a spinning stool he swirled left and right as he spoke. “We’ve done it every first week of high school. The rest of us already talked and thought why not do it on the first day back, considering it’s out last ever first day.”

 

Wow that hit Mingyu hard. Every day from now on was going to be the ‘last this day’ of high school. Scary. Any other time that thought would have excited Mingyu, but right now there was definitely a spanner in the works.

 

“Hellooooo, anyone in there?” Soonyoung called out, spinning around to look directly at Mingyu who was sat motionless once more. “You’ve been zoned out all day, jeez, what did you take at this football camp?”

 

Suddenly Soonyoung gasped “ARE YOU ON STERIOIDS?”

 

“What?” Mingyu instantly panicked, eyes wide as he glued them on to his dumb ass friend. “No, god, shut the fuck up Soonyoung!” A small laugh escaped him at the end, realizing his dumb ass, not so dumb ass, friend had done that on purpose to get a reaction out of him at last.

 

“Just tired, you know? I’ve been up like, way past midnight over summer and now suddenly it’s like 6am starts.” Soonyoung chuckled in agreement at that statement.

 

“Totally got it. Same right here, I almost fell asleep when I parked my car this morning in the parking lot.” Mingyu laughed back.

 

“Yours is self-inflicted, idiot. You’re up all night playing computer games.”

 

“God you sound like my mom.” Soonyoung laughed back.

 

“Yeah mine is-” Mingyu’s breath caught in his throat before he finished his sentence. What on earth was he going to say? The truth? Or was his lie really that fluid in his mind still, but thankfully Soonyoung seemed to pick up on the latter thought.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Training, and football, and parties, and girls, yadda yadda, your life is so fun and exciting, I get it.” He faked yawned, Mingyu letting a small smile show as if he was totally agreeing with what he said.

 

Luckily then for the star sportsman class began. Soonyoung turning to face forward Mingyu began to study the back of his friend’s head. How the tips of his hair were slightly frazzled due to bleach, and how his roots were already starting to show. It must have been nice. Soonyoung seemed to have no cares in the world except keeping up with his dye jobs. If only Mingyu’s life could’ve been that simple.


	3. Is it still me who makes you sweat...

Mingyu had come home to an empty house. That was nothing new. His mom was always busy working, she usually came home about 9pm but at that point Mingyu was out with his friends. And by the time he got home his mom was usually passed out exhausted from work. They always just missed each other. Sometimes when he was getting ready for school she would wake up. They could talk for five minutes before he had to leave, he always gave her a kiss on the cheek before he left if there was a moment like that. And then there were the times she would wake up first. She was never there when Mingyu woke up later, but he always knew; because she always left a bowl of cereal on the kitchen counter and a glass of milk next to it. It was only those mornings did Mingyu have breakfast. It wasn’t intentional… Just Mingyu definitely preferred to sleep rather than wake up thirty minutes earlier and make breakfast.

 

He moved to the refrigerator, opening it in a vain attempt to grab a snack but there was nothing ‘snack’ worthy. In other words, nothing that took less than three minutes to make and eat. He sighed, closing it again before taking himself up to his room. His room. Typical of a seventeen year old boy. Minimal decoration except for football memorabilia on a shelf his mother had insisted he put up so he stopped leaving everything in the living room. He didn’t see the point at first, but now that three shelved ikea piece of crap held two football trophies he had won since entering high school, and an MVP rosette, alongside a football just there for decoration.

 

He paid no attention to that right now, just like he did every day of his life. Flopping on to his bed, his movements were swift as he simultaneously pulled out his phone from his pocket.

 

He had eleven messages in the group chat. Swiping the chat away to mute it for the next hour, he still hadn’t given any of them an answer whether or not he was going to Casa Diablo tonight or not. They had already decided they would go again if he didn’t, but they were defintiely eating tacos tonight. It’s not that he didn’t want to go, just… Mingyu had something else on his mind right now.

 

Sighing, he bit the bullet. Opening his contacts and scrolling down to the bottom… W… There it was still. Wonwoo’s number saved in his phone. Holding his phone above his head he stared at it a little longer. Before letting his arms flop on to his chest.

 

He never expected this. To run into Wonwoo again. They had met during summer vacation, it was supposed to be a summer vacation thing. Even if either of them thought there could possibly be anything else, there was no chance. That was mutual. But, ugh. He still took Wonwoo’s number, like a fool. Still promised to keep in touch considering they were ‘only an hour away from each other’. What Wonwoo didn’t know was just how good of a liar Mingyu was. Sure he said all that but what he had really planned to go was return to school, completely forget about Wonwoo and live his life. Then he was off to college the summer after, god knows what state he would end up then. The odds of ever running into Wonwoo again should’ve been astronomical. _SHOULD HAVE BEEN_. But yet now here he was, his entire senior year thrown into jeopardy because of this one boy. But what was worse? Now Mingyu was feeling something he had never felt before. Guilt. And not guilt like ‘I’m sorry I accidentally ate the last bread stick at Olive garden’ guilt. But churning in the pit of his stomach guilt. How Wonwoo spoke his name that first time in class. That tone sending a volt of electricity through Mingyu’s entire body and dropping his heart into his stomach. And now he felt guilty. Guilty that he never text him. Not even once. Even worse, that he never planned on it. And stupidly Mingyu in the heat of the moment asked to speak with Wonwoo later, with Wonwoo of course knowing he still had his number… the number he never texted.

 

Oh god his head was starting to spin just like it did in workshop class. Picking his phone back up he unlocked it. Fuck, Wonwoo’s number was still there. It wasn’t all some fever dream. Fuck this. Kim Mingyu wasn’t a wimp. All these stories about him being able to get any girl he wants, him just waltzing into parties uninvited. Even if they weren’t true surely there was some part of them that was actually Mingyu and he could call on that energy to fucking just TEXT Wonwoo right now.

 

Yes, there it was. His finger finally moving to message him.

 

…

 

_‘Hi..’_

  
No, delete. Two full stops looks awkward. Let’s try again.

 

_‘Hey!’_

  
No, that looks too enthusiastic. What exactly is the tone of this message? Actually… what did he even want to speak to Wonwoo about? His mind drew blank. Dropping his phone to his chest again he stared up at the ceiling.

 

He had no idea what to say, all he knew was when he heard that bell ring he panicked. It seemed whenever he was under pressure he felt the urge to speak to Wonwoo. When the bell rang… even now trying to text him. The pressure of wanting to talk to him but having no idea how or even why. Whatever. Mingyu screwed his eyes shut tightly before picking his phone back up again. Like any teenager, they can text perfectly with their eyes shut. And that’s exactly what he planned to do. One, two, three, four, five taps… send. Prying his eyes open… oh no.

 

_‘Heyyy’ sent 6.03pm_

 

What was that rule? The more ‘y’s you include the more interested you are? Great. Now he looks over interested and Wonwoo was probably on the same page as him about never seeing each other again. And the whole talk was just going to be about how they should stay away from each other and just live their lives. And they never had to see each other again. Now Mingyu just looked desperate… great.

 

… Five minutes passed

 

Not even a damn reply.

 

“Fuck this.” He muttered to himself. Swiping his phone open again he clicked on to his group chat.

 

_Mingyu:_  
_U guys still at diablos? 6.09pm_

  
_Jihoon:_  
_So you’re not too cool to come now? 6.10pm_

 

_Minghao:_  
_Shut up. Yeah, we’re still here. 6.10pm_

 

_Soonyoung:_  
_YAAAA come! Seungcheol’s only on his 2nd rootbeer! 6.11pm_

 

_Minghao:_  
_Do you want me to order for you? 6.11pm_

 

Mingyu smirked to himself. Finally getting up from his bed he immediately began to head out of his room.

 

_Mingyu:_  
_No it’s good. Be 15min! 6.12pm_

  
The beauty of a small town was that everything was close to you. The school, the food places, your friends. The downside was… well everything was close to you. Usually that wasn’t an issue but now Mingyu had a slight bit more reason to look over his shoulder and it made him a little paranoid. Especially when Wonwoo still hadn’t answered his text.

 

Was he really ghosting him? Him? Kim Mingyu of all people?

 

Or was he out, was he in Casa diablo eating his own tacos and meeting people? What if he was talking to his friends… What if he told them… No. He wouldn’t do that. But then again how well could you know someone you just met over summer vacation? It made Mingyu drive a little quicker to the restaurant, definitely stirred up his appetite as he now sat in front of everyone with a giant taco and nachos to himself.

 

“Why the change in mind, Gyu?” Minghao asked. Nobody actually thinking there was a motive behind his actions except for maybe hunger. Mingyu’s eyes flickered back to Minghao, faltering slightly but he quickly recovered with a grin.

 

“What, and have my friends drain this place out of business?” He laughed, “Looking at you, Cheol. That’s your 3rd rootbeer since I got here!” Seungcheol barely paid attention to that correct fact as he continued to drink.

 

“Yeah he clearly didn’t miss us! Despite being away the entire summer vacation without a single text.” Soonyoung dramatically whined at the table. Mingyu simply tucked into his food, hoping to god that topic didn’t come up again. But of course, who else was sat at the table except the exact two people to bring that up.

 

“Yeah! Why were you so busy this summer, hm?” Seungcheol smirked, raising an eyebrow to his tall friend.

 

“Yeaaaah, we usually get at least an update text every week in the group chat. Did football camp confiscate your phone or something?”

 

Mingyu purposely took his time chewing, and everyone could sense it. He was always one to build tension rather than talk instantly. He thought it made the lies more interesting.

 

“No it’s just training like, eight hours a day. Come on ‘Cheol, you know how exhausting two hours a day can be.” Of course he pulled on personal experience, Seungcheol, being a member of the school football team too, could absolutely agree to that. And he did so by nodding furiously.

 

“And you know, being on the field in uniform. I haven’t exactly got space for my cell phone.” The group made agreeable noises in unison, Soonyoung even leaning over to steal a nacho from Mingyu as he did so.

 

“But then what about the night?” Jihoon added. Mingyu tilting his head to save his taco from spilling out on the other side but his eyes caught Jihoon’s.

 

“What about it?” He spoke with his mouth full.

 

“Well you trained all day, but what did you do all night?” Jihoon continued, stirring his probably flat soda with his straw.

 

“Yeah! You told me you were up until late every night in woodshop!” Soonyoung chipped in. Mingyu coughed his food down a little quicker to answer them.

 

“Well yeah.” He stated as if they were all dumb. “There were parties. Every camp has parties.”

 

“And… were there girls?” Seungcheol chimed in, suddenly it was like all eyes were on Mingyu. He was totally used to it, and in fact he thrived. Letting off a cheeky smirk in response to having their undivided attention.

 

“Of course.” His friends made a few hushed noises of almost admiration.

 

“And… did you hook up with any of them?”

 

Mingyu’s lips flickered into a different type of smile. It was fleeting, unnoticed for sure by his friends as they lingered on his words, but he felt it. He also felt that flip of his stomach and constricting of his chest as he tried to compose himself as quickly as possible.

 

“Maybe.”

 

With that response the table errupted with noise. All the boys throwing their hands up as if their football team had just won super bowl or something. Mingyu laughed along loudly with them. Wow, he had actually missed this. The strange feeling he got, it almost felt like pride, whenever people believed his stories. The boys did what they usually do, fired into stories about what possibly could’ve happened that night, and as usual Mingyu stayed quiet. Finishing off his food he simply listened to their descriptions. From hot tub sex to having several college girls in one night. It was entertaining just how vividly their imaginations worked. He was having fun. He was-

 

_Bzzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzz._

 

The vibrations on the table suddenly felt like Mingyu had just been shocked with a defibrillator. The speed at which he grabbed his phone even surpassed the speed of his own thoughts because in any other given circumstance he definitely would’ve ignored any and all texts whilst with his friends. Because exactly this would happen..

 

“OOOOOH, WHO’S THAT?” Soonyoung yelled, alerting the others to the fact Mingyu was now clutching at his phone.

 

“I knew it!!” Seungcheol hollered, slamming his hand down on the table. “You got a booty call, right?” He turned to the others.

 

“That’s why he didn’t want to come tonight!” Jihoon cackled at the thought, Minghao now also laughing at just how crazy everyone was going over this text message.

 

“Gimme your phone!!” Soonyoung said, quickly reaching out for the phone but Mingyu backed away.

 

“No!” His voice jutted, bad move, that falter in his voice just made the text message even more juicy.

 

“Come onnnn, you can’t be embarrassed in front of us! We’re your friends!” Seungcheol added, very slowly standing up, almost as if he was moving slowly to not spook Mingyu away.

 

“That’s exactly why I should be embarrassed.” Mingyu laughed semi nervously, trying to regain the upper hand but it was too late. The damage was done.

 

It was almost timed like they had planned it. Seungcheol giving Soonyoung some kind of signal as they both launched forward, Seungcheol taking Mingyu’s free arm and Soonyoung hanging all of his weight off Mingyu’s other arm with the cell phone on it. No amount of protesting was going to help him now as Jihoon very quickly hopped out of his seat to snatch the phone from Mingyu’s weakened grip and ran back around the other side of the table to safety.

 

“Let’s see what we got here!” He announced proudly, even clearing his throat as he unlocked the phone.

 

The two boys unhinged themselves from Mingyu who now sat in defeat. Fuck, he didn’t even know who the text was from really. He didn’t have a chance to see the screen. It could be his mom for all they knew.

 

But it could also be Wonwoo… Oh god, what would he say? Really what could he reply to ‘heyyy’? Anything from ‘Hi’ to a whole three paragraphs about how what happened over summer should be forgotten and the two of them should continue like strangers. The unknowing suddenly made Mingyu anxious, oh god he felt like he was going to be sick.

 

“Ahem!” Jihoon cleared his throat again. It unwillingly caught Mingyu’s ears and how he wished he could tuned out of this moment right now… Or just disappear into the ground. Do you think Casa Diablo could really summon the devil right now to do that?

 

“Hi. Sorry for the late response, I was reading. Are you free to talk now?” Jihoon read it out with a voice that held so much promise at first… only to fizzle out by the end.

 

“Huh?” A confused Soonyoung tilted his head, almost not believing that Mingyu could receive such a dull text.

 

“Who even the fuck was that?” Seungcheol added. Mingyu was just in a state of shock. Wonwoo had replied to him. And he didn’t seem mad. He had a valid reason for not replying earlier and suddenly all the anxiety from earlier today had dissolved into thin air. That was… until Seungcheol wanted to know who it was from. Oh no, how would he explain that one?

 

“It’s from Wonwoo.” Jihoon said

 

“Isn’t that the new kid?” Minghao chipped in, finally contributing to the mugging of Kim Mingyu. The face on each one of his friends was the same expression. And then finally Soonyoung vocalized it.

 

“How the fuck does he have your number?”

 

“Yeah, didn’t you just meet this morning at school?” Jihoon remembered.

 

“Wow, what kind of meeting was that?” Seungcheol laughed, taking the phone off Jihoon, all Mingyu could do was sit and listen to them now run a riot with this.

 

“LOOK! He text him first!!” Soonyoung announced to pretty much the entire restaurant. The result at the table ending in laughter again as Jihoon snatched the phone back once more.

 

“’Heyyy’ with three Y’s!” He laughed “What’s that saying? The more Y’s you include the more interested you are?” He teased.

 

“And now he wants to talk to you?” Soonyoung joined in on the ‘teasing’. Every word was making Mingyu feel like he was shrinking. Thankfully this was just on the inside, somehow on the outside he seemed to have a frozen expression. Like his face had just accepted what was going to happen and he was going to grin and bear his punishment.

 

“Ooooooo! Mingyu has a boyfriend!” Seungcheol cackled, holding his sides as he did so.

 

“That must’ve been a helluva meeting in the parking lot! You said he was lost, was he lost in your eyes?” Soonyoung cracked a joke, and that opened floodgates for the rest.

 

“Yeah, did you tell him heaven was ‘that way’” Jihoon joked as he pointed up.

 

“Did you give him a dime to call his mom and say he’s going home with you tonight?” Soonyoung added.

 

“Did you give him directions with your tongue-”

 

“Alright, enough!” Mingyu’s voice snapped. The instant anger in his tone causing a total stop to the scene that was unfolding in front of him, with all but Minghao not shocked into silence. Mingyu leaned over the table and grabbed his phone back off Jihoon with ease.

 

“Fucking hell guys. That shit’s not even funny, are you all really that fucking bored without me your mind jumps to these things?” The friends stayed quiet… a silent answer was all he needed to regain his composure… time to fix this mess.

 

“I told you; He seemed lost. I helped him out. I told him if he ever needs any help then he can text me. So I gave him my number.” Every single word was spoken with infallible confidence. It was 100% the truth… to everyone but Mingyu. Their eyes hadn’t left the floor until Mingyu sighed, letting out that last pent up breath of anger, he absolutely hated being angry. He wasn’t very good at being angry for long periods of time. But thankfully, when he was angry it seemed to get his point across.

 

“You all really need a fucking part time job or something to keep you busy, I swear.” He muttered under his breath.

 

“Except you, you’re fine.” He glanced over to Minghao, who the entire time had been unlike the others. He didn’t hang his head in shame, in fact he listened intently to every word Mingyu just said and looked at him straight on too. Simply nodding in response to those words, Mingyu stood up.

 

“I should probably get home to see my mom. You know I haven’t seen her all summer either, but she’s not jobless like you all, she keeps busy.” With that, Mingyu excused himself from the table and left the building.

 

He walked over to his car. Still clutching his phone as he reached the car door he leaned against it, hanging his head heavily in a stressed manner before taking a deep breath in and lifting it up again. Lifting his phone up, he swiped it open again and checked his messages.

 

_‘Hi. Sorry for the late response, I was reading. Are you free to talk now?’ 9.43pm_

 

That text did two things. Made his heart swell and also sink. A few hours before it was exactly the response he wanted, and needed. But now? He couldn’t. Mingyu’s energy was sapped as he locked his phone again. Shoving it into his pocket he climbed into his car to drive home. He would deal with that another time.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 chapters to be updated weekly~  
> If you're enjoying it leave a comment pls!


	4. Chapter 4

It was safe to say Mingyu didn’t sleep well that night. He was going to blame it on the humidity, the lingering summer weather definitely making him uncomfortable but that wasn’t the only thing. He didn’t bother to text Wonwoo back last night. He needed a break from everything and they were only two days into senior year, how the hell was he going to survive the rest of it? Not to mention college applications, he probably needed to find a part time job too whilst he was at it. Then of course he was first place to become team captain this year, he definitely couldn’t fuck that up. Scholarships were hanging in the balance. Every thought in his mind was stressing him out and with Wonwoo’s text message topping that list it made him furious. Why did he want to talk to him so badly but then couldn’t even pluck up the courage to text him back? Kim Mingyu was a coward in reality.

 

So it was easy to say he was a little more distracted today as he walked through the halls. Paying minimal attention, even to those who knew him, as he made his way to his first class of the day. Math. Mingyu liked math. At one point he wanted to be an engineer but then he learned you needed to be really smart to do that. Like. Really smart. Mingyu wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the box, but he wasn’t dumb either. Maybe just above average in math and science but it wasn’t exactly harvard acceptance grades. So in short, he really needed the scholarship to help him out too. Turning into the classroom most students were already seated, spotting Minghao he made his way over to a free desk nearby him.

 

“Are you okay?” Minghao asked quietly. His book was already opened and he had written the date inside his notebook. Minghao really was the definition of a prepared senior student. Though he would never say that himself. Honestly Mingyu admired it. Minghao just managed to modestly exist and be content, why couldn’t Mingyu? Why did he always have to strive to be just a little bit better than everyone else?

 

“Uh, yeah just tired.” He finally replied, dropping his book and himself onto the desk chair.

 

“Was it because of last night? They didn’t mean it seriously, you know them.” Minghao defended, though they weren’t his actions to defend. Mingyu quickly dismissed him.

 

“Nah it’s the humidity, you know? The aircon in my room is broken.” He lied, Minghao taking his answer as fact and simply nodding in response. Shortly after the class began. He thanked god the class didn’t drag, and the rest of the day was soon passing in a smooth manner too, with his next class being social studies. That was a cake walk considering some of his other subjects. Yep, that was going to be easy, entering his last class before lunch he relaxed his shoulder. Until his eyes met a familiar face.

 

Wonwoo again. Fuck, of course today was going too well. He hadn’t seen him at all and he was hoping to avoid him until at least the end of school so he could return his text. Great, now he just looked like a dick again, ignoring texts and totally forgetting Wonwoo even existed when in reality it was the total opposite. Wonwoo didn’t even look up. But Mingyu was wasting time and soon seats were beginning to fill. His feet moved quickly to the back of the classroom, having to walk past Wonwoo in the process he almost held his breath as if it would make him invisible. He ended up on a seat two behind and one to the left of Wonwoo.

 

Great. Now for the rest of the semester all he had to look at was the back of Wonwoo’s head. Mentally groaning at himself for picking the worst possible seat he sighed quietly and opened his book, tilting his head down to look at the page, he eyes looking intense but in reality, he wasn’t actually focusing on any single word on the page. He just wanted to look busy, so he would be left alone. A few minutes passed until that feeling that someone was staring at him started to burrow into his head.

 

Glancing up it wasn’t instantly obvious. Class hadn’t started yet and students were still groups with what friends they had in the class around certain desks and Mingyu’s eyes scanned to room but to no avail. Then out of the corner of his eye he caught it. Wonwoo, his head barely turned, looking out of the corner of his eye. His heart jumped for no apparent reason and Wonwoo must have noticed because as he did, he looked away once more. Mingyu quickly dug his hand into his pocket to search for his phone.

 

“Phone away, Mr. Kim this is a classroom not the school yard.” The teacher called, dammit Mingyu hadn’t noticed them enter the room a few moments ago.

 

“Everyone else take your seats, class it about to begin.”

 

Mingyu was straight back to it. Being unable to concentrate, he fidgeted around in his seat almost throughout the whole class. No matter what, he just couldn’t get comfortable and his mind kept wandering. He needed to talk to Wonwoo. He had no idea how though... Did he just bring up what happened at summer? Just like that? Well something had to be said, and all that was going through Mingyu’s mind right now was how to open that conversation.

 

The bell rang for lunch and students quickly scattered. Mingyu’s response was slower than usual, his mind focused on other things right now and as he looked up he noticed Wonwoo slowly packing his bag. Was he... Was he waiting for Mingyu? A lump formed in his throat as he slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked over.

 

“Hey.” His almost mumbled, looking down a little to the gap between them. Wonwoo didn’t respond. “Sorry I didn’t text you, I was out with friends.”

 

“I assumed. It’s fine.” The other boy spoke, no sarcasm or malice hinted in his voice, Mingyu could mentally breathe a sigh of relief. Finally Wonwoo picked his bag up to and began to leave, only to be stopped by a suddenly panicked Mingyu.

 

“Wait, I’m free to talk now.” He blurted out, Wonwoo stopped walking away to turn and look at him.

 

“It’s lunch time, Mingyu. Aren’t you hungry?”

 

Mingyu gulped, sure there was hunger somewhere in his emotions right now but he really needed to get this off his chest.

 

“Just... ten minutes? Back of the autitorium where you were the other day, okay?” If you listened closely you could almost hear the desperation in his voice as he asked that of Wonwoo. And Wonwoo must’ve heard it too. The shorter boy very slowly nodded his agreement to Mingyu before exiting the classroom first, allowing Mingyu to throw his mind into overload. Shit, now he really had to do this, huh?

 

He of course arrived first. Mingyu pretty much ran straight to their meeting point even though he told Wonwoo ten minutes, but he needed time to prepare. But he didn’t even know what he was preparing for. What was he going to say? Hey summer was fun and all but I kind of have a reputation as a ladies’ man here and I would very much like to keep that intact because if people found out it would unravel every other single lie I’ve ever told and ruin my entire senior career, not to mention get me kicked off the football team thus ruining any chance I have at getting a scholarship which I so desperately need for college. Yeah. Thanks.

 

…

 

Mingyu was an idiot.

 

He didn’t have time to think up another millionth way on how to approach this topic because shortly Wonwoo had approached him.

 

“Hey.” He managed to say before his throat cut him off, Wonwoo not giving any major reaction. Wonwoo, Mingyu had discovered, was good at that. Not particularly at hiding his emotions, but at always appearing calm no matter what the situation was. But that type of person was the kind that unnerved Mingyu. He wasn’t very good at guessing how other people were thinking, he preferred people to be upfront with him. But in front of Wonwoo it was safe to say that it just made him a mess.

 

There was a moment of silence. Partially from Wonwoo expecting Mingyu to just spit it out, but also because Mingyu still had no idea how to move his thoughts from his mind to his mouth right now.

 

“What did you want to talk about?” Wonwoo finally prompted. He didn’t have his glasses on right now, allowing his hair to fall on the rim of his eyelashes. Mingyu remembered seeing him like that for the first time and asking ‘isn’t it annoying? The hair constantly touching your face like that?’. Mingyu preferred to keep his hair swept back or parted to the side a little. He vaguely remembered Wonwoo’s response being along the lines of ‘I’m used to it by now, I don’t even notice it anymore.’ But before he could continue to reminisce Wonwoo shifted his weight from foot to foot, making Mingyu cough to break his trance.

 

“I just wanted to...” He began, once again the ball in his throat becoming thicker as he swallowed dryly to try and get rid of the feeling and push through with his words. “Welcome you to the school and say if there was anything you needed help with-” He totally veered off the track he wanted to go down, a true coward! Wonwoo instantly recognized this a snuffed out a laugh through his nose.

 

The noise made Mingyu’s words falter and slowly come to a stop.

 

“No, you didn’t.” Wonwoo chuckled a little, shaking his hair. He didn’t have to look up to the boy much to see the astonishment in Mingyu’s eyes. Really, someone just called him out on lying. This may possibly have been the first time someone in school had ever thought to do such a thing to him, the Kim Mingyu.

 

“You wanted to talk about what happened over the summer.” Damn, Wonwoo was direct too. Mingyu was stunned into silence. Obviously that was exactly what he wanted to talk about but he still had no idea what to say about it. Even with the door wide open now for him to say anything, instead the words just kept floating around his mind.

 

“Don’t worry, you’re secrets safe with me.” Wonwoo continued, smirking a little, Mingyu was sure he saw an eye roll underneath that fringe of hair lining his forehead. Wonwoo sighed a little in a small back stretch.

 

“I didn’t come to this school looking to stalk you or ruin any reputation you might have. As far as I’m concerned, we could say it never happened.”

  
Wait. Now Mingyu didn’t know where he wanted this conversation to go in the first place, but now suddenly he felt unsure. It wasn’t like what Wonwoo suggested was a bad idea. It was just... Mingyu didn’t know what he wanted at all. Not even that.

 

“Wait no I just- I mean-” Mingyu began to stutter, trying in vain to just say anything that made the slightest bit of sense but nothing that left his mouth seemed to do that. “What I want to say is, that I meant-” But Wonwoo stopped his fumbling words. Holding his hands up to try and shush Mingyu it worked like a charm, Wonwoo gently lowering his hands, eyes slightly wider than before as he made sure Mingyu was calming down and actually listening before it was his turn to talk.

 

“It was just a kiss.” He stated so plainly that it made the blood rush to Mingyu’s ears to hear such words spoken so freely in such a situation that he was losing his mind over.

 

“It didn’t have to mean anything.”

 

That was it. Wonwoo lowered his hands and it seemed to be the end of the conversation. It was just a kiss. It didn’t mean anything. Those words hitting Mingyu’s mind over and over, almost like he was reading a foreign language. He knew what the words meant, but it was like he wasn’t understanding.

 

“Yeah...Sure.” He uncertainly replied, each syllable slowly falling over the other. Wonwoo seemed to take that at face value. And honestly so did Mingyu. Maybe it just bigged the situation up more than it was meant to be. Maybe it really did mean nothing to both of them.

 

“So. See you around?” Wonwoo continued, tone rising at the end to solicit a response from Mingyu, the smaller boy took a step backwards. That small step projecting Mingyu back into reality.

 

“What? Oh sure, yeah, of course.” He huffed as if it were no big deal, shrugging his shoulders. Wonwoo half raised his lips at that behavior but didn’t comment. Turning around fully he was going to head back to the school.

 

“We can still talk though, right? That’s not going to make anything weird?” Mingyu just really wanted to clarify that point before he left. Wonwoo stopped in his tracks, turning half way to look back over to Mingyu who had staggered forward slightly in eagerness.

 

“Yeah, you have my number. Text me if you want to hang out. Or whatever. See you in class.” There was a lightness to Wonwoo’s voice that made it seem totally sincere. That wasn’t an offer of pity or duty, and it made a dorky smile fill up Mingyu’s face as he stayed quiet enough for Wonwoo to finally leave.

 

It was just a kiss.

 


	5. Chapter 5

It was the end of September. What happened the beginning of the semester now seemed a blip in the road and Mingyu was practically back to his full self. He assumed Wonwoo had made his own friends, they saw each other in home room, social studies, and the library if Mingyu ever walked near it. It seemed Wonwoo didn’t eat his meals outside on the grass anymore because sometimes he noticed him in the cafeteria too, but no matter where he saw him Mingyu’s mind still thought of the same thing. “It was just a kiss.” Well yes, it was just a kiss. But since when did any kiss happen out of thin air? There was usually reasoning behind it, some sort of emotion or tension, a process of getting to know the said person you kiss. Did it really mean nothing? Mingyu didn’t just think of these things whenever he saw Wonwoo, he thought of them when he was driving to school too. Or when he was tossing in his bed trying to sleep. To say they consumed him though was a bit of an overstatement. Mingyu continued to live his high-profile high school life. He was back to normal.

 

Back on top, he was killing it in the field too. The heat dying down made all the training a lot easier to handle. The aim for this year? Reach regionals again, and this time win. The team reached the semifinal last year but this year Mingyu was determined. Especially if he was going to be captain.

 

“Still no news on that?” Seungcheol said. The guys in the locker room were busy getting dressed after showering, Mingyu being one of the slower ones he was still drying off.

 

It was obvious it was on his mind. With their first game of the season this Friday the coach had still not announced who the captain was going to be for that game. Honestly Mingyu had begun to panic that something changed his mind.

 

“Not yet.” He huffed, opening his locker to retrieve his clothes. The boy may not have been eighteen yet but his physique did not scream seventeen years old. He was way over 6’, tanned and toned. The locker room was definitely full of envy because on top of that he could get any lady he wanted. If he wanted.

 

“Ack, I’m sure he’s just waiting for some stupid touchy moment.” Seungcheol chortled, wacking Mingyu on the back heavily before signaling he was exiting the room, Mingyu simply waved his friend off.

 

Mingyu continued to dress, a white t-shirt and jeans, wet hair loosely dangling wherever it felt like over his face, yet he still pushed it to the sides whenever he got annoyed by the sensation. Locking his locker, he turned to leave, but the coach called him back.

 

“Got a moment?” Mingyu tried to hide the look on his face, it was something of a mix or nerves, fear... excitement. There weren’t many times coach had called Mingyu in to be scolded, but definitely to be praised. And with Mingyu’s ‘deal’ over the summer completed as far as the coach’s knowledge this certainly looked promising.

 

Mingyu followed him into the office just off the changing room floor. It was messy, at least three coffee cups on his desk, clearly he wasn’t the type of man who enjoyed washing up. Mingyu digressed, coach walking around to his desk, Mingyu stood patiently on the other side.

 

“I just wanted to be the first to congratulate you.” Those words made Mingyu’s insides twist. Like he was going to throw up but out of pure excitement.

 

“Sir I-” He began but his smile took over his face and clearly expressed everything that his lost words couldn’t.

 

“No need to thank me, it was all your hard work. You were made for this.” The coach walked back around, patting the larger boy on the back in congratulations he held out his hand too. It was the captain armband.

 

“Thank you.” Mingyu still spoke, smiling beyond measure as he took the band from him. The coach turned them towards the door. He wasn’t a man of many words, but definitely of impact and action when needed; same could be said for Mingyu. He certainly didn’t need to do much convincing when he said he attended football camp over the summer. Coach didn’t even ask for proof. The entire school had been conditioned by Mingyu since freshman year and now it was way past the point of needing confirmation other than his word. Just the way he liked it.

 

“Oh, one more thing too.” He patted to make sure he had Mingyu’s attention once more.

 

“I sent your performance video off to a few choice colleges. Alongside a letter of recommendation by yours truly.” Suddenly Mingyu was feeling overwhelmed.

 

“Really? You did that for me?” He confirmed eagerly. The coach laughing at such a naïve statement.

 

“Mingyu you’ve been an outstanding player for years. You’ve shown commitment and dedication and leadership quality and now it’s time to put all of that into action. Starting with the game this Friday, alright?” He didn’t need an agreement from Mingyu, he knew he already had it. Exiting the teen from the office, Mingyu tightly clung onto his new captain band with pride.

 

The news spread pretty fast. From the few remaining boys in the locker room of course automatically noticing their now new captain leaving the office with a huge smile on his face and a shiny band in his grip, to Mingyu texting his group chat pretty much the instant it happened. Now they were all planning his celebration at their usual taco haunt. Mingyu was ecstatic.

_Soonyoung:_   
_So he just up and offered you it like that!? 5.18pm_

_Seungcheol:_   
_Fuck off Soon, you act as if he didn’t work hard for it. 5.19pm_

_Soonyoung:_   
_THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!! 5.19pm_   
_I meant like ?? No rounding up the entire team to surprise him? 5.19pm_   
_No cheering? 5.19pm_   
_No victory dance? 5.20pm_

_Jihoon:_   
_You’ve been watching too many movies. 5.20pm_

_Minghao:_   
_More like high school musical lol 5.20pm_

_Soonyoung:_   
_Whatever –_- 5.20pm_   
_You guys on your way? I’m leaving in a sec 5.21pm_

 

Mingyu picked his phone up. He had just finished fixing his hair and was ready to leave, swiping his phone to reply to messages another one popped up on the screen. Except this time it made his chest constrict.

 

_Wonwoo unopened msg_

 

It had been two weeks since they last text. That text being about the homework in social studies which Mingyu didn’t quite understand, but Wonwoo also didn’t quite understand either so the two of them put whatever ideas they had together in a pile and tried to figure it out. With the occasional message from Mingyu saying they should just fail all the homework this semester and Wonwoo arguing that this year was important and they shouldn’t do that. But that was that. They went back to class and didn’t talk more than a greeting as either of them entered, and only because their desks were close to each other. So what could he be texting him for?

 

Without a reason his heart began to beat faster on its own accord, almost like anxiety swelling inside of him but also anticipation. Mingyu always wanted to know what Wonwoo had to say. He could be insightful, and kind... and so much more. He opened the message.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_So I heard you made captain. I remember you telling me you played, but I didn’t think you were serious. Congrats 5.21pm_

 

Mingyu’s mind and body were doing all sorts of things. A smile plastered across his lips he momentarily forgot about his celebration plans with his friends, sitting down on his bed for a moment, clutching his phone happily. Wonwoo had thought about him! And felt compelled enough to actually message him a congratulations for something he had done. He remembered what they had spoken about. There was something there. Mingyu couldn’t help but linger on that thought as he text back excitedly.

 

_Mingyu:_   
_Thanks!! Yeah my first game as captain is this Friday! You should come :) 5.22pm_

 

He sat back for a minute, swiping away the incoming texts from the group chat as he waited for Wonwoo’s reply. Wonwoo replied a lot slower than anyone else he knew. He had no idea why. People usually seemed to respond quickly to whenever Mingyu text them, he just assumed they liked to hear from him. But Wonwoo? He seemed busy, or distracted. Soon though his phone vibrated with a return message.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_Hmm I don’t know~ I’m not much of a football fan, ha 5.25pm_

 

Mingyu pouted to himself. A little disappointed that Wonwoo didn’t jump at that offer but nevertheless he wasn’t going to give up.

 

_Mingyu:_   
_But it’s my first game :( As captain :( You just congratulated me now you’re not gonna show?? 5.26pm_

 

This time however Wonwoo’s reply was a little faster.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_Do you always use so many emoticons? 5.27pm_

 

Mingyu didn’t reply, instead he just looked at his previous message. Two wasn’t that many, was it? And two question marks? It wasn’t that excessive. In all honesty he had sent way more to Soonyoung and he never complained. Then again maybe Soonyoung wasn’t a good example to compare to. That boy was always obsessive with his texting and emojis and memes.

_Wonwoo:_   
_Just kidding. If it means that much to you, I’ll try to come :) 5.29pm_

 

Wow. Suddenly it was like a weight was lifted from Mingyu, smiling to himself once more, even laughing a little at Wonwoo’s stupid emoji that he probably added to make Mingyu feel better about his text. The thought that Wonwoo would really just show up to watch him made him feel even more special now.

 

_Mingyu:_   
_Great! I’ll see you then :D Speak to you later 5.29pm_

 

He closed the messages, sighing contently for a moment. Letting that brief conversation go through his mind a few more times before he clicked his phone unlocked again to check the time. 5.33pm and the group chat now had 44 new messages. Opening them he stood up from his bed once more and started to leave.

 

_Jihoon:_   
_Where the fuck is Mingyu, this is all for him. 5.24pm_

 

_Minghao:_   
_Idk he’s not opened the messages by the looks of it. 5.25pm_

 

_Seungcheol:_   
_He’s probably in the bathroom or something. He’s in there forever. 5.25pm_

 

_Mingyu:_  
 _Alright, I’m leaving! See you guys soon 5.35pm_.

 

  
There were at the table for maybe two hours already, it nearing eight o’clock and them really not appearing to want to move anytime soon unless it was for another free refill. Most of the night had been relaxed, perfect, just exactly how Mingyu wanted this entire year to be.

 

“Here’s to our captain!” Soonyoung cheered, holding up his paper cup filled with Cherry cola as he tried to get the others to toast him.

 

“You’ve said that six times now.” Jihoon rolled his eyes, refusing to participate but Seungcheol had already obliged him out of pure instinct to toast whenever Soonyoung did it.

 

“And he’s not even your captain, you’re not on the team.” Minghao added, making Jihoon laugh a little.

 

“He’s not just captain of the football team!” Soonyoung banged his drink on the table, spilling it a little. Soonyoung stood up, almost as if he was about to recite the national anthem with pride in his voice.

 

“He’s captain of the whole senior year! And by default, the whole school! And I’m his best friend and I’m-” He continued, only to be knocked down by Seungcheol.

 

“Alright kid, we get it!” He laughed, Soonyoung shooting a glare at the bigger friend before sulking into his drink for being interrupted.

 

“He’s right though, Mingyu.” Seungcheol now picked up. Catching the minor athlete's attention. “You wrap prom king up in that title too and you will literally be a legend!” The group cheered for him, Mingyu smirking as he finished off his drink. Yep, every moment had led to this. Every lie he ever told worked together just perfectly to create this god-like persona that would genuinely leave him a legend at his high school. Isn’t that what every kid wanted? Failing to see even a year into the future but he didn’t care because he was sure when it got to that stage, he could just do it all over again.

 

Mingyu half zoned out for a minute because the next thing he heard was not related to him at all.

 

“You know I heard that Wonwoo kid is already eighteen.” Soonyoung spoke. Mingyu blinking at few times to zone himself back into reality.

 

“He got a birthday this month or something?” Seungcheol laughed as if Soonyoung was being stupid, and it wouldn’t be the first time either.

 

“No, I mean that he was already eighteen when he joined our school. Meaning he should’ve graduated by now.”

 

This time his sentence gained a traction of ‘oooh’s’ from the group of boys.

 

“I mean, look at him, he does look a little inept.” Jihoon added, and suddenly Mingyu couldn’t help but put his foot in it.

 

“No he just missed a year of school, is all. He was sick.” Mingyu said, and instantly he regretted it. His words were met with dead silence from the group. Who really were staring at Mingyu thinking was he some sort of mind reader... how could he possibly know that?

 

“How do you know?” Seungcheol finally broke the silence, the end of his words turning into some sinister chuckle. “You two secret best friends now or something?”

 

Suddenly Mingyu was on hyper alert. What if they pinned him down and for his phone? But this time saw him practically begging Wonwoo to come to his football game? What if somehow that triggered a memory in one of them who may have seen Mingyu not at summer camp this year and they put two and two together and figure out he’s been lying all this time. His thoughts were irrational, scatter-minded, but he couldn’t control them as they bounced out of control.

 

“Yeah, imagine ever since they bumped into each other in the parking lot they had been meeting up in secret!” Jihoon laughed, and it now caused Seungcheol to laugh even louder.

 

“You know I always thought he was a bit pansy-like! Maybe he had a plan to-”

 

“Alright, stop!” You would expect the voice to have come from Mingyu himself, but in fact the person speaking up this time was Soonyoung.

 

“Mingyu ain’t nobody’s best friend but mine, got it? I think I’d know if he was sneaking around platonically cheating on us.” His tone droned off towards the end, draining the atmosphere with it. The dull mood allowed Mingyu’s mind to settle though, knowing that the topic wasn’t going to be raised again. And he saw his chance to take his leave.

 

“I should go, it’s getting late. I got some social studies homework to do and-” Suddenly a realization hit him “damn, I didn’t even tell my mom I made captain yet!” He managed to chuckle under his breath, earning warming smiles from his friends who were actually still supportive of him despite the drop in mood.

 

Heading to his car, the nights were definitely starting to get colder now. He enjoyed the sudden silence that was outside of the restaurant, the breeze finding the nooks of his jacket making him shiver in the temperature difference. Reaching his car he sighed. He didn’t manage to tell his friends a lot of things. About how he planned to be a good leader for the team, a mini pep talk he had prepared about how their senior year was going to be the best year of their lives together. About how they should stick together even when it college... He didn’t even tell them the coach had applied for scholarships on behalf of him or that he was looking into colleges himself. It would happen, all in time he thought. He just had to wait for the right moment. Pulling his phone out to check the time to absent mindedly flipped to his messages too. Seeing Wonwoo’s name gave him a sense of comfort somehow. And before he knew it, he was texting him.

_Mingyu:_   
_Have you applied for any colleges yet? 9.08pm_

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

It was the big night. First game of the season, first game ever as captain. And the nerves were settling in. Even though Mingyu couldn’t deny he was made for this role he still felt unprepared. That was definitely a weak point when it came to lying. Actually having not have done the work involved in order to become captain left him short of the skills he needed. But he wasn’t about to admit to that. Part of lying was the acting that came with it. How he played it cool around girls to make it look like he knew what he was doing all the time when he really didn’t have a clue. How he shared dating tips with friends despite never having been on a date until he was sixteen. Literally everything Mingyu had going for him had stemmed from a lie and now there was no backing down from it. He was here, and he had to do what needed to be done. Or else everything else came crashing down too.

  
  
“Ready, captain?” Seungcheol patted him on the back. The entire team was inside the locker room waiting to be called out to field. Mingyu held his helmet in his fist by the side of his body, a thin layer of sweat already on his temples.

  
  
“Don’t sweat it, we got your back out there.” He reassured his friend. Seungcheol wasn’t the best with words usually. Off field he had the emotional range of a brick and the only solution he ever had to solve problems were to physically tackle them usually. But on the field he did change slightly. He knew what he was doing. He was calm, a team player. He was probably more captain material than Mingyu was, in reality.

  
  
“Thanks.” He answered simply. The referee calling for the teams as Mingyu headed to the door first. He called his team over and gave a short empowerment speech before he led his team out for the first time this season.

  
  
The turnout for the first game of the season was usually amazing and this time was no exception. The place was full and the cheering was piercingly loud from the moment he walked onto the field, filling Mingyu with every range of emotion from fear to excitement. If they could win this game it could really be the start of his career.

  
  
The players looked around, finding their pockets of friends dotted around the place. Those friends were often a source of strength when the team weren’t enough. Knowing they were there could be daunting sometimes but it was also comforting to know people had come to support you. And Mingyu was no exception. Of course he never had family come. Being an only child, his father not being around and his mom working all the time. Usually Mingyu didn’t need to find anyone in particular in the crowd because he knew Jihoon, Soonyoung and Minghao would be around somewhere and sooner or later Seungcheol would point it out. But today was special.

  
  
_“I’ll try to come.”_ He remembered Wonwoo’s message to him and his heart began to race once more. This time in the anxiety of finding him. Did he come with friends? Did he even come at all? He nervously began to look around, eyes fighting against the bright lights in order to find him.

  
  
But soon he did. Eyes wandering down a staircase he noticed those extremely lean legs make their way down them. Mingyu’s heart almost stopped because he really couldn’t believe that Wonwoo came. Just because he asked. Looking back on it now, Mingyu did see how he begged a little, and it was embarrassing, but apparently it all paid off so that didn’t matter anymore. Smiling to himself contently it was like his nerves washed away as he watched Wonwoo make his way to an empty spot on the bleachers.

  
  
Wonwoo hadn’t noticed him yet. The boy looking around, Mingyu could tell he felt out of place and that made him even more happier than he came. He stayed with his eyes trained on him for a few more moments until that feeling of being watched kicked in and Wonwoo finally found him too. A thin line forming on Wonwoo’s lips to form a light smile, Mingyu nodded happily to himself before putting on his helmet.

  
  
The game had ended and if you didn’t watch you surely still knew the winning team by the cheering erupting from the field. Mingyu had done it and led his team to their first win of hopefully many of the season and the hype couldn’t be contained as the team went crazy in the locker room. Cheering chaotically and clashing into each other, but Mingyu was trying to act like a captain and remain level headed and calm.

  
  
“Hey, great job captain!” His teammates called out, Mingyu thanking them for their hard work as he changed back into his track pants and jacket. He was proud, not only of them but himself. He began to think if maybe there were scouts in the crowd too, considering the coach had sent his performance video off. This could open so many opportunities for him.

  
  
“I knew you could do it!” Seungcheol hollered, clashing into Mingyu and punching him playfully, Mingyu laughing in return as he closed his locker, ready to finish up.

  
  
“Couldn’t have done it without you, bud.” He returned, knocking him back slightly.

  
  
“Jihoon text me that everyone is going to get chicken now, are you coming? It’s only fair since you won, captain!”

  
  
“You mean WE won.” Mingyu laughed, finally turning towards Seungcheol so they both could leave. “Sure, why not?” He confirmed.

  
  
The two friends began to exit, talking about plays from the game they were proud of, how well they both handled the pressure of the first game of the season. Then the topic changed.

  
  
“You know Jihoon also text me that he saw that Wonwoo guy in the crowd too.” Seungcheol just threw out in the open. Mingyu inwardly jumped at the mention of his name, but managed to look composed on the outside.

  
  
“Huh, really.” He tried his hardest to seem uninterested. As if Mingyu wasn’t totally aware Wonwoo was there, or that he was the reason why he was there.

  
  
“Yeah, weird right? He just showed up. I don’t think he knows anyone on the team.” Seungcheol continued.

  
  
“Well you know, it’s a popular sport. People just enjoy watching sometimes.” Mingyu tried to throw logic in, but Seungcheol was not a person who used logic in his assumptions. Very much like Soonyoung.

  
  
“Yeah” Seungcheol elongated, the pair of them heading to his car. “He doesn’t strike me as the type to watch football for fun.”

  
  
Mingyu was quiet for a moment. Really he had nothing to say to that which wouldn’t stoke Seungcheol into some weird rant that he really didn’t want to hear. But his silence to prompted Seungcheol to continue.

  
  
“You know I don’t think he’s got that many friends.” Seungcheol paused after saying that to walk around to his side of the car, leaving Mingyu to climb into the passenger seat.

  
  
“Yeah well, it’s probably hard to make friends in your senior year.” Mingyu finally commented.

  
  
“Yeah.” His friend replied, Seungcheol looking over his shoulder to reverse out of the parking lot so they could get on their way. “He seems to like talking to you though.”

 

“Is that a bad thing?” Mingyu seemed half defensive, he kept his eyes forward as Seungcheol focused on reversing before straightening up.

 

“I’m just saying, you should probably be careful.” Mingyu found that strange. Was Seungcheol giving him a warning? And why? Soon though Seungcheol explained in his own way.

 

“You’ve got a big year coming up. You can’t afford to hang out with... people like him.”

 

Mingyu didn’t have an idea what Seungcheol could mean by that. He had no idea who Wonwoo was really and now he was just making assumptions he was a bad guy? It made something inside Mingyu rage. But he knew better than to react to that right now.

 

“You know, I’m just a nice person. I like to help out.” It was almost like Mingyu was defending himself. Defending that he had the right to speak to whoever he wants. But it was then that he realized something like that could jeopardize everything he had worked for this year. But still... something inside him couldn’t just sit there and let that happen.

 

“Exactly bro, that’s why I say this.” Seungcheol finally glanced over to Mingyu, who’s eyes stayed fixed forward on the road.

 

“As a friend.”

 

The rest of their drive was filled with talk from the game. Highlights, what they could do better. Seungcheol of course stroking Mingyu’s ego as captain and saying how great of a job he did on their first game. ‘If we can keep this up, we will hit regionals in no time’.

 

Case diablo was full of students. All of them celebrating their win and instantly Mingyu was smothered. Naturally, of course. He embraced it, the lingering girls complimenting him on his performance. Not like many would’ve known if he did well or not, the real thing they were complimenting was who he was. Kim Mingyu, star player, captain of the football team, the real ladies’ man. Completely unobtainable since he turned down most girls in his school but that didn’t stop them from trying.

  
‘Mingyu, you looked so good!’ They would call for him as he simply sat with his friends. Soonyoung stood up as if he was about to address an audience.

 

“Let’s hear it for Mingyu!” He cheered, making everyone follow along loudly and clap. Seungcheol turning to Mingyu to shake his shoulders, making him laugh in the process. Soonyoung loudly cleared his throat to continue.

 

“This really is his year, guys! Just remember, in the future when you see his face on TV, that you went to high school with that guy.” Mingyu chuckled and shook his head at his friend’s dramatics.

 

“And then there’s me, his best friend for life who is going to be right next to him-”

 

“Alright, that’s enough” Seungcheol laughed, pulling Soonyoung back down to the table before he got too carried away with his speech. Despite the entire place being full due to Mingyu’s presence, his table only consisted of friends. And whatever girls were close enough to them to join too.

 

“He’s right though, you could be on TV one day! As a star player for some team.” Minghao complimented, it made Mingyu smile sheepishly. It wasn’t as if he didn’t acknowledge his own skills. Just Mingyu had never thought that far ahead. Did he really want to be a professional football player? What if after all that time in the spotlight they found out he never actually attended football camp that one summer back in high school? Would that matter? What if they found out everything else...? He would become a laughing stock. It felt like he had just swallowed a golf ball at the table.

 

“Hey, Mingyu!” Jihoon called out impatiently. The tone of his voice sounded like he had asked a question a few times. Mingyu assumed that was right as he snapped back to the moment.

 

“Have you even applied any colleges yet?”

 

“Yeah, a couple.” He replied nonchalantly. Mingyu had come to realize over the years with his friends, academics was never an area of conversation they often ventured into. Except for Jihoon. He usually liked to brag about acing a test, or complain loudly when he didn’t do so well. He was also the only one who accurately updated the group chat on his applications to college and what offers he had received. He wanted to go into music production or something, Mingyu didn’t remember the specifics. Soonyoung didn’t talk about college. Ever. He would probably end up going, Mingyu thought. His parents were pushy, even if it was just a community college, he would end up somewhere. Seungcheol was following the same path at Mingyu; the athletic scholarship route. He was an excellent player, probably even more so than Mingyu in some ways. Just... Seungcheol didn’t possess the charm Mingyu had. Or have full control of his temper at times. Minghao? Mingyu had a sneaking feeling he was smarter than Jihoon, he just didn’t flaunt it. He could probably end up in some ivy league school and be president one day and no one could see it coming.

 

“Where?” Soonyoung pressed, Mingyu taking a sip of his drink before contemplating to apply.

 

“Why, you gonna stalk him there too?” Jihoon butted in, earning a glare from Soonyoung.

 

“I’m his best friend! He would be lucky to have me by his side in college too!”

 

“Just some, nothing major.” Mingyu dismissed. In all honesty going to college with Soonyoung would’ve been amazing but he was just scared. If he told his friends and then didn’t get in, what would happen? Would they all laugh? Spread the news that he wasn’t good enough for college? He didn’t want to be remembered like that.

 

“Keeping it a secret, I see. Don’t trust us?” Jihoon smugly commented. Of course he was safe, he gained early acceptance in the summer and didn’t shut up about it since.

 

“No, I just don’t want to jinx my luck.” Mingyu replied.

 

“Luck? Is that what you call it?” Seungcheol laughed “Not skill or perseverance or commitment? You’re too humble!” He whacked him hard on the back as he spoke, laughing along and thus making Mingyu laugh too.

 

Time continued to pass until finally it was time to leave. Seungcheol happily driving Mingyu back to his home, the usual guy talk exchanged on the way. When he got home his mom was still awake and congratulated him on his victory and said she was sorry she couldn’t make it. He thanked her before heading to his room.

 

The sudden quietness was a stark contrast from his entire day, but his mind desperately needed it. If winning his first game back as captain wasn’t exhausting enough the fact that he Wonwoo had actually shown up to support him just blew his mind away. ‘It was just a kiss.’ He had to keep telling himself. But truthfully... Did Mingyu want it to be just that? He thought about the summer again, lying down on his bed in the darkness, closing his eyes not out of tiredness but for comfort.

 

Every summer Mingyu disappeared for six weeks. It was often under the impress of going to some camp or some cool vacation to his friends, but the truth was every summer he visited his grandma. Without failure he stayed with her for six weeks, in her home just an hour away from his town. It was just far enough not to run into anybody he knew, just far enough to make the lies even more convincible because no one ever ran into him during those weeks.

 

And it was there he met Wonwoo. A pure coincidence, in the supermarket near his grandma’s home, he simply turned down an aisle to get milk and ran into the poor, lanky boy.

 

_**June 6, summer vacation** _

  
“Oh, I’m sorry” Mingyu spoke. Catching the milk he almost dropped from crashing into a shopping cart.

  
“No, it’s fine, I should’ve been looking.” The guy responded. Mingyu finally regaining himself enough to look up to see who he had bumped into. A guy, young, tall, just like himself. If Mingyu was going to be honest he was definitely in awe. He had a sharp jaw, small but sharp eyes. And a small smile just pinching the corner of his lips and made Mingyu’s heart jutter with nerves for some reason.

 

“Are you-” The black-haired stranger began to say to Mingyu but just at that moment a small, elderly woman wandered between them.

 

“Thank you, sweetie.” She beamed, grasping the milk out of Mingyu’s hands a little bit too easily as she continued to walk past. The stranger’s eyes widened in shock and glanced between Mingyu and the old woman repeatedly. Mingyu the whole time never have taken his eyes off him.

 

“Uh, did that lady just steal your milk?” He asked, pointing behind Mingyu and finally making him come crashing back to reality.

 

“What-” He looked around, only to find his grandma walking down the aisle with the milk Mingyu had just had hold of. “Oh, no that’s my grandma.” He laughed a little. The relief also settling on the stranger's face.

 

“That’s cute, do you live with your grandmother?” He asked, Mingyu once again finding himself a little too invested in staring at this guy, taking in all of his features and details before answering. He was really skinny, long arms and legs adding to that, as well as a perfect nose-

 

“No, just visiting. I- visit her every summer.” He coughed a little mid-sentence, making the guy smile a little bit more. Mingyu liked that.

 

“That’s nice of you. Ah sorry, this is weird. I just moved here I don’t know anyone in the area yet. I just thought you were from around here.” He continued, suddenly a shy tinge to his voice as he nervously looked away. Mingyu grew a lopsided grin, chuckling a little at his reaction.

 

“Yeah, sorry. But I’m in town for six weeks actually. If you need someone to show you around, I actually know the area pretty well.”

 

“That would be great, actually.” They smiled back to Mingyu, holding a hand out for a handshake, Mingyu looked the boy up and down a few times first. “Wonwoo.”

 

“Mingyu.”

* * *

 

Mingyu felt like he had dropped off for a few moments. Jolting awake a little he reached for his phone.

 

 _Wonwoo new msg_.

His heart jumped.

 

_Wonwoo:_  
_Like I said, I’m not a big football fan but congrats on winning tonight. 10.44pm_

 

Mingyu sighed contently for a moment before the thoughts of what Seungcheol had said came creeping back in. That he shouldn’t talk to Wonwoo. That he should be careful. It made his chest tighten but before he knew it his fingers were already replying.

 

_Mingyu:_  
_Thanks, I appreciate it :) It was scary, first time as captain and all! 10.47pm_

 

_Wonwoo:_  
_Really? You looked like a natural out there. 10.49pm_

 

Mingyu’s heart jumped a little. Wonwoo really just came to watch him. And only him.

 

_Mingyu:_  
_You were watching me that closely, huh? ;) 10.49pm_

 

_Wonwoo:_  
_Haha. Well like I said, I don’t really know what I’m looking for when it comes to football. 10.50pm_

 

_Wonwoo:_  
_Shouldn’t you sleep now? You must be tired after today. 10.50pm_

Mingyu turned onto his side. Sighing sadly a little, he knew Wonwoo was right. Paired with the fact he almost fell asleep before... thinking about Wonwoo. It hurt his heart a little. A few months ago Mingyu was really prepared to just come back to school and totally forget about this boy and now here he was frowning at the fact he had to stop texting him soon.

 

_Mingyu:_  
_Yeah I know... Just one more thing. 10.52pm_

 

_Mingyu:_  
_Did you hear back from any colleges yet? 10.52pm_

 

_Wonwoo:_  
_Just the one. I’m considering it. You? 10.53pm_

 

_Mingyu:_  
_No...10.53pm_

 

_Mingyu:_  
_I’m worried I did something wrong on my application :( 10.54pm_

 

The minutes seem to drag. Mingyu began to wonder if maybe Wonwoo had fallen asleep... or if he even cared enough to reply. Mingyu was whining about himself, as usual and this is exactly why he didn’t talk to his friends about this. It was so annoying and needy and--

 

_Wonwoo:_  
_Don’t worry about it too much. You’re a good student, a great football player. A good person. You’ll have offers coming in soon, no doubt about it. Promise :) Goodnight. 10.58pm_

 

A good student. A great football player. A good person. Those words swam through his mind as he drifted off to sleep soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 chapters to be updated weekly~
> 
> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think in comments!♡


	7. Chapter 7

The end of October was approaching rapidly, with Mingyu having to juggle between football practice, weekly games and of course studying it was easy to say that some of his grades were slipping. English, science... Mingyu was usually good at science too just on top of everything else these days he was struggling to keep up.

 

Senior year just seemed to be a flurry of people trying to get themselves together whilst they still had time. Joining fifty different clubs to up their college applications, studying to the max, making sure to bump up their final grades for their college admissions. But Mingyu was struggling. Being captain of the football team came with a lot more responsibility than he thought. It meant meetings with the coach, being the first person to training and the last one to leave. It was exhausting. But he thanked god this morning when he woke up that he didn’t have practice after school today.

 

Walking downstairs he knew his mom had been awake. The usual bowl of cereal and glass of milk was on the breakfast counter, Mingyu absent mindedly pouring the milk into the bowl before putting the glass in the sink. Picking a spoon up he wandered over to the sofa to sit down but then stopped in his tracks. The was a letter on the table, one he could see written by his mom, and the other poking out of an opened envelope.  
Putting his cereal down on the table, he picked a letter up in each hand. Reading his mom’s first.

 

_Mingyu, I am so proud of you! I’m sorry I opened it first, you didn’t tell me you applied for college yet! The mail came yesterday and I just saw the surname and thought it was mine. Sorry again!_

_But honey, I am so proud! Congrats on your first offer, I’m sure the rest will come flooding through!_

_Let’s talk more when I get home._

_Love, mom_

 

Mingyu was sure he had been holding his breath from the moment he cast his eyes over the word ‘college’. His stomach twisted and he felt too sick to even touch, or think, about breakfast right now. He had been accepted? To a college? Really, him? He had no idea which college it was just yet until he looked over to his other hand, pulling out the paper and unraveling it.

 

**University of California – Berkeley**

 

 _Congratulations! We would like to extend an offer of admission to the selected student, under a full athletic scholarship_.

 

His heart stopped. Full scholarship? He barely absorbed the rest, suddenly standing up, he had no idea what to do with himself other than just pace up and down the room rapidly trying to let what he just read sink in.  
“A full scholarship.” He tried pinching himself to check it he was dreaming, but no it was all there in black and white. Including the terms.

 

_An average of a 3.8 GPA is required for full scholarship funding._

 

Well fuck, that just threw a spanner in the works.

 

His entire drive to school, a whole ten minutes, was filled with dread. His current GPA was 3.6. Damn English and science were pulling him down and he cursed at himself for it. But if he started focusing too much on them his grades somewhere else would fall... He just didn’t know what to do. Walking into the school with a heavy mind, he hated this feeling.

 

“What’s up, man?” Soonyoung didn’t waste time greeting Mingyu as he walked into home room. Without realizing it, Mingyu scanned around for Wonwoo. He was there, a seat on the other side of the classroom to him, settled down and reading already. Mingyu didn’t know many people who chose to actively read in their spare time. Wonwoo was one of them, though. He found in endearing really, he remembered Wonwoo telling him how you can get lost in a whole new world-

 

“MINGYU, HEY!” His loud ass friend’s voice called again. It made Mingyu jump inwardly, looking slightly mad at Soonyoung before hissing away his issue.

 

“Nothing, just didn't get a lot of sleep, is all.” He lied. Really, what was he going to tell them? He got an early admission offer but his grades weren’t good enough? What would be the point? They would only tell him to study and that he ‘was the great Kim Mingyu, he could do anything!’. Sometimes that title got old real fast. Sometimes it felt like he could never put a foot wrong, someone was always watching him. But then sometimes it didn’t matter what he did, because people always covered for him anyway. It was both a blessing and a curse. It got him to where he was right now... but where he was right now was also unsafe. He had a long way to fall if anything happened to him.

  
“Didn’t sleep, huh?” Seungcheol contributed, his tone rising with the indication of something else on his mind. “What were you doing then?”

 

The boys around him began to yowl like cats, making feral noises and Mingyu just really wasn’t in the mood for it. He sank down to his desk, eyes drawing heavily as he raised them to try and look anywhere but at his friends in hopes they would all leave him alone. And in the process he found Wonwoo.

 

It was a fleeting glimpse. By the time he looked over to confirm Wonwoo had been looking in this direction the boy had turned his attention back to his book. Was he listening to their conversation? He had no idea. Part of Mingyu wanted to text him. In fact he had that urge a lot more frequently than he acted on... But maybe pulling his phone out whilst surrounding by his friends begging for details about his ‘late night escapades’ wasn’t the best idea. Thankfully soon the bell rang and students began to disperse to their seats.

 

The day dragged. He spent half of his classes trying to figure out how to raise his GPA. ‘If I get an A in science and English... that’ll bring me to a 3.8... But I can’t let any of my other grades slip in the meantime otherwise I'll be back to square one.’ Walking to lunch alone he quickly joined his friends at the table. They were already mid conversation, something about a marvel universe theory that Soonyoung had developed, but Jihoon kept pointing out had a million plot holes because the university theory had already been linked by Mr. Stan Lee himself. ‘No he left it open to our interpretation’ Soonyoung was insisting.

 

Mingyu wasn’t interested. Pushing his food around the tray aimlessly he wondered how much longer he could sit here until it was long enough it could excuse himself without it being weird. Next thing he knew he felt a vibration in his pocket.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_Are you okay? You’ve been distracted all day. 11.54am_

 

Mingyu looked around. He really had been distracted enough to not even notice Wonwoo was sitting maybe two tables in front of him. For a quick second they met eyes, Wonwoo’s expression unreadable, Mingyu spotting his phone on the table, clearly he was waiting a reply. Mingyu held his phone against his thigh to type back a reply.

 

_Mingyu:_   
_Not really. Can you come outside? 10 minutes? 11.55am_

Mingyu looked back up. Wonwoo’s slender fingers immediately tapping on the phone, Mingyu felt his pulse raise a little knowing that he was expecting a response.

_Wonwoo:_   
_Sure. 11.55am_

 

Even though it was just one word it put his mind at ease. Breathing a sigh of relief, he put his phone back into his pocket. Finally sitting back up he tried to look a little more involved in the conversation with his friends before leaving a few moments later.

 

The October weather meant that the skies were crystal clear and the air was cold. Luckily most days there was no wind, so it meant that a simple jacket was enough to keep you warm if you weren’t outside for too long. Mingyu wore his tracksuit jacket, hands digging into the pockets as he walked to the only place he knew Wonwoo would be waiting. He still saw Wonwoo in the cafeteria as he left; assuming he was waiting for Mingyu to leave first to follow him out. But it had been a couple of moments now and Wonwoo still wasn’t here.

 

Mingyu began to feel nervous. Maybe he should’ve clarified the meeting place, or maybe Wonwoo changed his mind and didn’t want to speak to him anymore. So many things began to run through his mind so he was grateful when he heard footsteps approaching.

 

“Hey.” Mingyu greeted. Was that all he could ever say to him? It was like being in front of Wonwoo made him lost for words. How did they go from summer to this? Wonwoo didn’t fight it though, mumbling a hey back to him before the two of them stood there, shuffling their feet on the grass.

 

“So what’s up?” Wonwoo finally probed. Mingyu’s eyes suddenly filling his alarm. Fuck, now he had to talk about it. “Something you want to talk about?”

 

Mingyu stood in silence for what seemed a few minutes. That was the beautiful thing about Wonwoo; he never rushed Mingyu. He never put words into his mouth or forced a response out of him. He let him do everything in his own time. Wonwoo’s patience was truly a virtue to Mingyu.

 

“I got an early acceptance to UC Berkeley.”

 

Wonwoo’s expression didn’t change much, but his tone certainly did.

 

“What? That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you.” His voice was almost like a hushed excitement, a small smile on his face, Mingyu felt a rush of positive energy even from those small words. Suddenly it was like everything was okay, but he knew that wasn’t true. Swallowing his pride, he delved his hands deeper into his pockets.

 

“Yeah, but it’s on two conditions.” He continued, Wonwoo letting him by staying perfectly quiet, showing he was listening carefully.

 

“One is that I remain on the field for the rest of the season.” Mingyu explained. Wonwoo snorting a little at that comment.

 

“Well shouldn’t that be easy? You’re the captain. Captains tend to be on the field, I think that’s how it works.” Mingyu didn’t take any criticism from Wonwoo in that sentence. It’s almost like he could tell that Wonwoo was expressing his words in a reassuring way. So that whatever Mingyu said could be explained clearly and simply. So he didn’t have to worry about it. Mingyu smiled at that thought.

 

“The other is that I bring my GPA up to a 3.8.” He finished. Once again a heavy burden on his shoulders appeared. Wonwoo stayed quiet for a minute, mulling over those words.

 

“That shouldn’t be too hard.” He finally conceded. Mingyu looked up as if someone had just offered him water after months of draught. “What’s your GPA currently?”

 

“3.6.” He answered instantly.

 

“Then it’s definitely possible.” The optimism in Wonwoo’s voice showed, as he lifted a finger to his jaw in a thinking manner. Mingyu hooked on his every movement. Wonwoo, in many ways, was an opposite of himself. Whereas Mingyu was muscular and broad, Wonwoo was very thin and slender. Even their hands showed that difference as Wonwoo’s fingers were almost bone thin and long compared to Mingyu’s fingers.But not just their bodies, but their minds worked differently too. Wonwoo somehow always seemed to focus on positive things. Looking to create better outcomes; problem solving. Mingyu’s methods was just to lie to avoid the problem in the first place and hope that it didn’t come back to bite him on the ass later on. After a moment of thinking, Wonwoo finally spoke again.

 

“What subjects are you struggling in?”

 

“English. And science.” He answered easily. He had literally thought about this all day, he had no idea where Wonwoo could be going where his mind hadn’t already taken him. “If I could just bring them both up to an A I’ll be fine but-”

 

“I can help you.”

 

Mingyu was taken back.

 

“How?” It was a naive question, but Mingyu just had to ask it.

 

“I’m in AP English literature and science.” Wonwoo half chuckled. He knew Mingyu didn’t quite grasp his offer instantly and he was going to have to explain. “I can tutor you.”

 

“How much?” In Mingyu’s mind no offer was ever for free. Even half the time Seungcheol offered to drive Mingyu to and from games it was for something in return. Albeit that something was usually food. Once again Wonwoo just laughed a little.

 

“You don’t have to pay me.” He smirked, his smile making Mingyu’s heartbeat falter. He had no idea why he still felt like this. It had been months... It was one kiss. Yet still every time Wonwoo smirked at him like that he was thrown straight back to those months.

 

“Just take it as a gift. Two hours a week, night of your choice. We can go to a coffee shop or-”

 

“We can go to my place.” Mingyu suddenly burst out. Very quickly he realized how that might have sounded, especially when Wonwoo seemed taken back by it too.

 

“What I mean is-” He coughed and tried to clear up “- that my mom works like, super late. So I’m pretty much alone all day so uh- we don’t have to pay for coffee to sit in some noisy café for two hours we can... Just go to my house.” His words lost their momentum towards the end, realizing he had cleared it up but he still sounded half desperate somehow. He had no idea how to fix that. How to get that specific tone out of his voice, one that sounded like he liked Wonwoo as more than a friend. Thankfully Wonwoo either missed that tone or completely ignored it.

 

“Sounds good.” He offered simply. Wonwoo turned to leave, assuming the whole thing was over and Mingyu would probably text him but instead Mingyu called out one more time.

 

“So, tomorrow then?” He asked quickly. The sentence left his mouth before he even knew it. Wonwoo stopped and looked back.

 

“If you want it to be.” What was it about those words that made Mingyu so unnerved? It made his mouth dry and heart hit his ribcage a little harder.

 

“Y-Yeah.” He managed to stutter, instantly feeling like an idiot for doing so.

 

“Okay. Just text me your address later.” Mingyu stayed a little while longer after Wonwoo left. The cold air bringing him to his senses that yes, Wonwoo was going to help him get this scholarship after all. He was going to college. And most importantly, he was going to study with Wonwoo tomorrow in his house.

 


	8. Chapter 8

In some ways Mingyu was glad that the next day came quickly. In some ways he wasn’t. He was happy because it meant it was a new day. School had finished quickly and he got to go home to see his mom. She almost cried with happiness. Boasting about how her amazing son had gotten early acceptance; totally overlooking the fact he needed to up his GPA but it was okay; Mingyu had a plan for that. It was going to be another secret. Something only him and Wonwoo needed to know about. Which brought him on to how he wasn’t exactly happy it was the next day already.

 

Wonwoo was coming over to his house. Sure it was just to study, but the last time they were alone together was during the summer and- god Mingyu really needed to forget about that. “It didn’t mean anything.” He had to keep remembering that. Mingyu’s mind was in turmoil as he reached school once again. Math passed nicely for once; the only class him and Minghao had alone, it was nice to talk just them two once in a while. Minghao had always been a little different than his other collective friends. Quiet, but not Jihoon quiet. When Jihoon was quiet there was usually something to worry about. When Minghao was quiet it was nice, calming actually. He only spoke to make a good observation, or a joke, and that made the other guys get carried away and Minghao simply regressed back into himself. But it was nice. It was nice to have a friend who didn’t get carried away with Mingyu’s stories, or make up their own, it was nice not to have pressure on himself to live up to what somebody thought of him. He still did though; he still put that pressure on himself.

 

Next up was social studies and already his stomach began to twist. After texting Wonwoo his address after school and receiving a ‘thanks’ reply there had been no further response between them. Wasn’t he excited? No, why would he be? It was just studying. Dammit, Mingyu had to keep remembering that. Walking into the classroom he noticed Wonwoo actually wasn’t alone for once. A girl Mingyu knew as Rebecca was hanging over his desk, the two seemingly polite. It was nice to see he wasn’t actually alone all the time as Mingyu’s friends always assumed of him. Mingyu stood there for a moment more, just watching, before taking his own seat. Having to walk past Wonwoo, he honestly didn’t expect Wonwoo to say anything, and he didn’t and shortly class started.

 

Bell ringing, Mingyu grabbed his things. It was time for lunch as he wandering out into the hallway, only to be followed by Wonwoo shortly after.

 

“Hey Mingyu.” His voice wasn’t loud at all but it certainly caught Mingyu’s attention. He stopped in his tracks, turning to Wonwoo who was lingering outside the class door.

 

“Is this your address? I’ve never been to this area before, I just want to make sure I don’t get lost.” Wonwoo showed his phone to Mingyu. Google maps with a pin stuck in at a certain point on the road that Mingyu lived on. He simply nodded in response.

 

“Yeah it’s about there. Number 417, there will be a black car in the drive way. Green door.” He described his home a little to Wonwoo, who smiled in return at the gesture.

 

“Thanks. See you at 6 tonight.” Damn, there that pain was again. His heart hitting his chest in a loud manner, he was glad only himself could hear it as Wonwoo left in the direction of the cafeteria. Mingyu held back a little, watching him leave but soon his mind was interrupted by the sound of his friends’ voices.

 

“Mingyu, what the fuck was that about?” Seungcheol laughed, making Mingyu jump a little as he turned around to see Soonyoung, Minghao, Jihoon and Seungcheol walking up to him. The look on Mingyu’s face seem to say it all; he had no idea what they meant.  
“What did that nerd want with you?” Seungcheol’s tone was abrassive. Mingyu didn’t particularly like it. He frowned a little defensively.

 

“Nothing, it was just about the homework.” He lied, earning a huffed laugh from Jihoon.

 

“You’d think after being held back a year that guy wouldn’t have any trouble with homework.” It gained a laugh from Soonyoung. But still Mingyu’s eyes hadn’t left Seungcheol since he turned around. There seemed to be a glint of something in them. Something he couldn’t quite place his finger on, but Seungcheol kept glancing just behind Mingyu’s shoulder... Curious. It was enough to keep Mingyu quiet as Jihoon upped the insults.

 

“Well he’s not the brightest of nerds either, is he?” He continued “You know I heard he still hadn’t got any friends. He’s been here, what, two months now? Don’t they call that socially inept?” This time Seungcheol finally broke and laughed along too, the blood rushing to Mingyu’s head. But not in a good way.

 

“He was just speaking to Rebecca in class then.” He found himself automatically defending. His friend’s laughter not dying down but they did pause to listen to him. “They seemed pretty friendly, so I don’t know.” His confidence definitely dwindled at the end, making room for his friends to butt back in.

 

“Yeah, I think she’s just trying to... scope him out. If you know what I mean.”

 

Suddenly Mingyu became interested.

 

“Like she’s interested in him?” He asked. Seungcheol shrugged his shoulders, a smirk still plastered on his lips the entire time that made Mingyu feel slightly wary. A feeling he had never felt towards Seungcheol before.

 

“Kinda.” Seungcheol replied. “More like seeing if he’s interested in her.”

 

“Yeah Rebecca is one of the hottest girls in our grade you wouldn’t think-” Soonyoung didn’t have a chance to finish before Seungcheol heavily elbowed him in the ribs.

 

“Let’s get to lunch. We have early practice today, coach said we can miss last period to attend.” Seungcheol finally changed the subject. Mingyu nodded in agreement as they all headed towards the cafeteria.

 

The only good thing about the end of October was that practicing in the slight cold was a pretty refreshing way to end your day. Sure you still got sweaty and gross, but the cold was really nice on your skin during the times the coach was giving feedback on the play. Mingyu was showered, one towel around his waist and another in his hands as he finished roughly drying his hair off before moving to his locker to get dressed.

  
“Hey, good play today.” Seungcheol grinned. Mingyu didn’t need to look to know it was his friend, and continued to fish his clothes out of the locker, throwing his shoes onto the bench. Seungcheol moved to lean against the locker next to Mingyu. He was still stood in his towel too, clothes bundled up in his arm with no intention to change into them just yet.

 

“Do you ever think about...” Seungcheol began, the words catching Mingyu a little off guard because ‘since when did Seungcheol ever think’ was the first thought in Mingyu’s mind. But he listened regardless. “How people might be looking at you when you’re getting changed in the locker room?”

 

Mingyu’s face scrunched up at that strange remark. “Not... really. I mean, we’re all guys.” He replied unsurely. Having no idea what Seungcheol was trying to spark in this current conversation.

 

“Exactly my point, captain.” He continued, Mingyu still listened to his friend whilst moving to the bench, pulling his shirt over his head as he did so. “There’s a lot of guys. And you couldn’t possibly see if any one of them was looking at you all of the time.” Seungcheol’s tone was mysteriously light, and it really confused Mingyu.

 

“Cheol, I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about right now. Did you get a concussion outside?” Mingyu tried to joke it off, but Seungcheol just sighed lightly and waited for Mingyu’s laughter to die down.

 

“I’m just saying, you know. That there’s probably a lot of guys who... admire you. If you know what I mean.”

 

Mingyu finished dressing and finally turned to Seungcheol, who had been watching him from behind the entire time by the looks of it. He took a few steps over to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Seungcheol if this is your way of coming out and saying you have a crush on me, I’m flattered but-” His tone was joking which finally did make Seungcheol laugh back to his friend.

 

“Nah man, come on! It’s not like that.” He laughed, thumping Mingyu on the arm in a friendly manner. He continued his laugh, but slowly let it die down. “But um, I’m glad that you get my point. About guys.”

 

Mingyu once again was taken back as he stared at Seungcheol. Eyes trying to look straight through him but Seungcheol reserved that strange glint Mingyu had seen from earlier today.

 

“If you’ve got something to tell me...” Mingyu tried to elicit from his friend, but Seungcheol just chuckled that way once more.

 

“Oh no. Not me, my man, not me.” Finally Seungcheol moved from off the locker, patting Mingyu on the back before walking away.

 

“Just... Be careful out there, captain.”

 

Mingyu arrived home about 5.30pm, which gave him just about half an hour to run like crazy around the house. Making sure things were in place, nothing was too untidy. In all honesty Mingyu didn’t care, but when it came to Wonwoo? Maybe he did care. Plus what was that saying? Something about how a clean space meant you could study better? He had no idea. It didn’t feel like thirty minutes until the doorbell rang and Mingyu was trying to stop himself from heavily panting whilst opening the door.

 

“Hey.” Goddamn, Mingyu really need to learn another greeting. But once again Wonwoo didn’t mind.

 

“Hey.” He replied. The two of them stood like this was at least another minute. Until Wonwoo gently shuffled his feet and looked Mingyu up and down.

 

“Should I come in?”

 

“What? Oh, uh, yeah sure.” Wow he seemed like an idiot. Letting Wonwoo pass him by he watched as Wonwoo removed his shoes and jacket before walking into the living room. Quickly scurrying to join him as Wonwoo’s eyes wandered around the new site.

 

“So should we study here?” Wonwoo asked, attempting to place the backpack he was now carrying down on the floor but Mingyu stopped him just before he did so.

 

“Actually I thought about studying in my room.” His voice sounded so small and weak suddenly and he had no idea why. Then he realized. That sounded like a pretty weird idea. “It’s just that I have a desk up there, it’s better than trying to sit on the sofa and study. Trust me I tried. I just end up falling asleep-”

 

“Room sounds good.” Wonwoo agreed, giving him a small nod before pushing his bag back onto his shoulder. Mingyu looked over at him for a minute. He seemed so relaxed and calm. Just like he always did. Did nothing really ever faze him? Thinking back on it, Mingyu didn’t think he had ever seen Wonwoo look completely out of his depth. The shorter boy waited for Mingyu to take the lead. Walking upstairs, the house was small with only three doors leading off the hallway.

 

“This is my room.” He pointed to the door directly in front of the stairs. “The bathroom is next door, if you need it.” Wonwoo muttered a small ‘alright’ in response before walking into the room behind Mingyu.

 

Suddenly Mingyu felt incredibly insecure about his room. Everything was minimal. No major personality jumped out except for his shelf of football achievements by his desk. Mingyu just saw it as a sign that he didn’t spend a lot of time in his room, but now suddenly he was thinking about how boring of a person it made him look.

 

“S-Sorry it’s small. I don’t spend a lot of time here, is all.” He quietly defended, but Wonwoo was barely listening. Wonwoo placed his bag down by the end of Mingyu’s bed, it was a small double at least, and judging by the size of Mingyu when he was on it there certainly was no spare room left. Wonwoo wandered straight over to the shelf which had Mingyu’s football achievements and a signed football placed on it.

 

“You know when you told me you played football, I thought you meant as a hobby.” Wonwoo commented out loud. The comment made Mingyu watch him intently as his eyes continued to browse the shelf closely. Was Wonwoo really talking about something they shared during summer?

 

Finally Wonwoo turned to his side, so he could see Mingyu. “Not as the thing that was going to get you a scholarship to college. You didn’t seem massively interested in it.” Finally Wonwoo’s slender hand lifted up to touch the football, tracing a finger over one of the signatures.

 

“That’s cool, did you win this?”

 

Mingyu took a few seconds to compose himself. Very quickly he was thrown back to the summer, about how when Wonwoo asked what Mingyu liked to do in his spare time he said ‘play football’. Did he really not sound that interested in it back then? It was nearly his entire life here, and it was definitely going to become it if he got this scholarship to Berkeley.

 

“Yeah well it doesn’t matter how much I’m interested in it if I can’t get my grades up.” He commented dryly, really he sounded so hopeless. It made Wonwoo smirk a little. In all honesty... Football was a byproduct of Mingyu’s lies. What started in his sophomore year, when he met Seungcheol for the first time, had quickly taken over his life and thus become the main focus of where the rest of his lies stemmed from now. He never would’ve thought about when he said he was really good at football back then that Seungcheol would coerce him into trying out for the team with him. And that he would actually be half decent enough to join, and then later on become the captain. At that point in his high school life Mingyu had never actually played the sport. He had only ever watched it with his dad when he was younger.

 

“And no.” He finally referred to the ball Wonwoo was still looking at. “It was a gift from my dad.” Slowly Wonwoo’s hand fell.

 

“Oh. Sorry.” For once Wonwoo was the person to be looking at the floor, leaving Mingyu to pick the mood up.

 

“It’s fine, what happened, happened.” He brushed off easily. Sighing as he relaxed his shoulders. “Should we start?” With those words Wonwoo smiled a little up to him, making Mingyu definitely feel better about the whole ‘Wonwoo being in his room’ deal. Wonwoo was never intrusive, or pushy, he never jumped to conclusions. Mingyu felt like he could say whatever he wanted in front of Wonwoo and he would never go around and tell others or even make a mountain of it inside his own head. Maybe that’s why he always chose to tell Wonwoo the truth. To him, he didn’t have to appear special.

 

In the space of those thoughts Wonwoo had walked over to his bag and retrieved a book from it. Holding it out to Mingyu who literally just stared at him like he was giving him proof aliens existed.

 

“What is this?” Mingyu dumbly asked.

 

“It’s a book, duh.” Wonwoo teased, making Mingyu feel flushed. Ah, he really had forgotten what it was like to be alone with him. “It’s the book the midterm is going to be about.” Mingyu finally took it from Wonwoo’s hands and glanced down to it.

 

“Of mice and men.” He read the title outloud.

 

“Yep.” Wonwoo replied smoothly, taking a seat over where the desk was, leaving Mingyu to fall quietly onto his bed. “I’m going to help guide you through it. Starting with character biographies.” Mingyu continued to stare at Wonwoo blindly for a moment.

 

“It’ll help you understand the story better if you know about the characters beforehand.” Mingyu finally nodded. He understood that. Mingyu then narrowed his eyes at Wonwoo suspiciously.

 

“If you’re going to guide me through, where’s your copy?” He quizzed, making Wonwoo smile just enough to show a glimmer of teeth.

 

“I’ve read this book at least sixteen times. That’s my personal copy you’re holding.” As Wonwoo spoke those words Mingyu flicked through the pages. He was right, the pages were folded at the end of some chapters, the bind cracked from being bent several times. He furrowed his eyes at it a little. Wonwoo really did enjoy reading in his spare time.

 

“So let’s start with Lennie.”


	9. Chapter 9

The weeks were definitely passing a lot quicker these days. Between practice, school and studying with Wonwoo, Mingyu barely felt like he had time for anything in between. Every Friday there was a football game. Mingyu having starred in every line up, they were on their seventh straight win nearing the end of the season. It wasn’t just the fact that Mingyu was playing; it was that their team was leagues better than the minor county teams they faced weekly.   
‘Regionals, here we come!’ Seungcheol would call loudly in the locker room, causing an eruption of cheering from the rest of the team. Mingyu easily got caught up in the cheering himself. It was exciting. His year as captain and he was taking them to regionals. It may not have seemed like much, but considering they had never gotten that far before it was a pretty proud moment for them all. And it was definitely helping with college admissions.

 

Since having received an offer to Berkeley, Mingyu had received three more offers. Two were from more local colleges, half scholarship with no GPA guidelines. One was from a college in Michigan and already a total acceptance based on his athletic achievements. But spending time with Wonwoo had also made him realize something else. He really didn’t want his future to lie in football.

 

There had been a few times he had realized this. One was the first time Wonwoo came to study at his home; when he mentioned about never having heard Mingyu being too over enthusiastic about football. It made him think; having spent nearly every single day of his high school life around Seungcheol he didn’t appreciate the sport half as much as him. Seungcheol lived for football, it was incorporated into his everyday life. If he wasn’t playing it, he was watching it, or studying moves, or attending camps. It made Mingyu realize deep down he didn’t deserve to be the captain half as much as Seungcheol, but hey it was what it is he thought. Mingyu wasn’t just chosen for his skills, but also his leadership abilities. That was definitely something Seungcheol had yet to fully develop.

 

But that threw Mingyu into more turmoil. If he didn’t want to be a star football player... what did he want to be? And could he really go to college and continue to play a sport he didn’t really want to play? In the midst of studying sometimes he would randomly blurt these questions out. Each time, Wonwoo would set his own book or work down to help Mingyu figure it out. Mingyu really enjoyed building things, and computers... Maybe he could be an engineer? Whenever he complained about how hard that sounded Wonwoo would try to encourage him otherwise. In all honesty half of their scheduled studying sessions would turn into agony aunt hour with Wonwoo.

 

But today was not one of those times. They had figured out a good system. One week they would study science, the next English. In between times Wonwoo encouraged Mingyu to study on his own too, and if he ever had any questions just to text him. Their friendship became closer. Mingyu had almost come to terms with the fact that the kiss didn’t mean anything. Almost.

 

Mingyu moved around on the bed uncomfortably. Every so often his face squirming in an odd manner, signaling there was something he wasn’t quite understanding in the book. Wonwoo noticed this too. But instead of asking him he simply waited for Mingyu to make the claim on his own. Eventually he did.

 

“Question.” Mingyu finally spoke up, sitting up maybe two feet away from Wonwoo who was sat still at the desk. Mingyu had no idea what Wonwoo was ever working on when he came over, because it was never the same thing as him.

 

“Why doesn’t Curley’s wife have a name?” Mingyu continued to stare intently at the book, as if by staring that the answer was going to jump out at him.

 

“Good question, let’s think about it.” Wonwoo complimented. He had a way of doing that. He never made Mingyu feel dumb for not knowing the answer, instead he always tried to positively direct it to him. Wonwoo turned on the chair to look over to Mingyu.

  
“What kind of personality does Curley have?” He asked Mingyu. For a moment the taller boy thought about an answer.

 

“He’s... aggressive. He has a need to prove himself, make himself seem better than others. Always fights with big guys.” Mingyu rambled off.

 

“And what do we call that?”

 

“Napoleon complex.” Mingyu answered so fast it even shocked himself. Smiling like an idiot to Wonwoo he simply smiled back lightly, making sure not to divert from the point too much.

 

“Exactly. Now we know that people with Napoleon complex like to be in control. So that’s why Curley’s wife doesn’t have a name.” Mingyu continued to sit and stare at Wonwoo... Still not quite understanding what he meant by that. This prompted Wonwoo to turn fully around to face him, Mingyu suddenly sitting up straighter, it was like he wanted Wonwoo to know he was attentive and listening to him. He also didn’t want him to think he didn’t care about what he had to say.

 

“If you take a name away from something, you’re taking its power.” Wonwoo explained carefully. “It’s been the same throughout all of history.”

 

Mingyu was slowly understanding.

 

“Giving something a name gives it meaning. It gives it purpose. It gives you some idea of its importance and worth, even if it’s your pet fish or dog.”

 

“Taking away that name is taking away it’s sense of meaning. Something without a name is no better than dirt on a beaten track. It has no worth because no one cared enough to give it a name.” Mingyu’s eyes widened at the sudden understanding he got from that sentence. Mouth dropping open a little, Wonwoo couldn’t help but slightly smile at him.

 

“That’s why Curley’s wife doesn’t have a name.” He drew his conclusion. “Curley doesn’t appreciate or love her enough to call her by her name. She’s no more than just an object to him. She has no worth.”

 

“That sucks.” Mingyu’s loose mouth added, making Wonwoo chuckle as he turned back to the desk.

 

“Yeah it does.” He added. “Sadly it’s not just in books too, but in real life. You can hear it everywhere; from the man calling his dog a mutt because he’s angry at it, to bullies in the street calling their victim bad names.” Wonwoo allowed that to be the end of that conversation as he turned back to whatever he was working on, leaving Mingyu to finish his reading.

 

It had turned just past eight thirty before the both realized the time. Mingyu heavily apologizing to Wonwoo, even offering to pay him for the extra half an hour but Wonwoo just shook it off.

 

“I had fun.” Wonwoo said, earning an odd look from Mingyu as the pair of them walked down the stairs.

 

“I don’t see how you can call studying ‘fun’ but okay.” He managed to laugh a little. Just at that moment in time keys rattled from the other side of the door. It wasn’t exactly panic that hit him, Mingyu knowing really he had nothing to be worried about. But it was more the shock of not expecting his mom to come home at this time.

  
“Oh, you’re home!?” His mom called excitedly. It was a rare occasion for Mingyu to be home at the same time as her. His mom was definitely a lot shorter than her son. Short, brown, bobbed hair. Wrinkles on the corner of her eyes. She easily had to crane her neck to look up to her son, and his friend of course.

 

“And who’s this? A new friend?” She wandered over to the pair of them. Mingyu smiled, greeting her happily before looking over to Wonwoo to double check he was okay.

 

“I know he’s new because he hasn’t screamed my name yet and I haven’t fallen over his shoes. Like some friends, who will remain nameless.” She added.

 

“I’m Wonwoo, it’s nice to meet you Ms. Kim.” Wonwoo greeted, bowing his head a little down to her. She almost shot Wonwoo a proud look for doing so before looking up to Mingyu with an inquisitive eye.

 

“Where did you two meet? I thought I knew all of Gyu’s school friends.” She asked.

 

“We uh-” Wonwoo began but quickly Mingyu interrupted.

 

“We met last summer. When I stayed at grandma’s. He just moved to my school, he’s helping me study.” Wow for once Mingyu was telling the truth so openly. Mingyu didn’t like to lie to his mom... instead he just preferred to keep secrets.

 

“Well that’s nice of you.” She complimented Wonwoo, the boy just smiled politely in return before looking back over to Mingyu. Mingyu smiling happily back to him in approval.

 

“Well I’ll let you two go, I’m going to get ready for bed anyway.” Mingyu’s mom announced, her finger curling to signal Mingyu to lower himself down to her she quickly kissed him on the cheek before walking past them

 

“Goodnight boys. Nice to meet you, Wonwoo.”

 

The two boys stood there awkwardly for a moment. Mingyu trying his best not to look up to Wonwoo out of a tinge of embarrassment, but Wonwoo tried to break it.

 

“She’s nice.” Those simple words almost made Mingyu choke.

 

“Yeah well... She’s my mom.” Was all Mingyu had to say. The two of them finally heading to the door, Mingyu opened it for him.

 

“So midterms are in three weeks.” Wonwoo said, making anxiety pang in Mingyu’s chest. “You’ll do fine, don’t worry too much about it.”

 

Mingyu managed to mutter a small thanks to Wonwoo before the two of them turned back to awkward silence.

 

“Do you have any plans for winter vacation?” Mingyu asked. With midterms the week before vacation most students used it to blow off their stress from exams. Mingyu assumed Wonwoo was no different.

 

“Actually no, my family don’t really do anything over winter vacation.” Wonwoo answered, Mingyu um’d and ah’d to that sadly. “What about you?” Wonwoo shuffled his feet against the floor a little.

 

“Me? Just practice. Even though it’s the end of the season we got to prepare for regionals. Then there’s college health checks and fitness exams and-”

 

“You sound very busy.” Wonwoo put a stop to Mingyu’s rambling. It wasn’t a harsh stop, if anything Wonwoo sounded... disappointed? It pulled at Mingyu’s heart.

 

“Yeah...” He replied in the same tone of voice. Once again that silence loomed. It was almost like the pair of them didn’t want to say their goodbyes. Looking around the empty space Mingyu blinked a couple of times, trying his best to try to spit his words out.

 

“But we can hang out sometimes.” He managed to say quickly. Wonwoo sticking his neck out a little as the pace. “You know... If you’re not busy. And I’m not busy.” Mingyu chewed on the inside of his cheek a little. That really just sounded dumb. Wonwoo literally just commented on how busy Mingyu was and here he was still trying to make it work somehow.

 

“I’d like that.” Wonwoo’s words made Mingyu’s face light up. Which in return made Wonwoo smile enough to show his teeth once more. Mingyu began to think that was his real smile. A rare thing to see but definitely worth it. Waving Wonwoo off Mingyu finally closed the door and sighed happily to himself.

 

After a few moments he started to climb the stairs. He might as well finish that chapter Wonwoo had him reading before bed, and he remembered if he got stuck at all he could always just text him... Then Mingyu noticed his mom standing at the top of the stairs as if she was waiting for him.

 

“You’re not in bed?” He tried to hide his panic. What the hell was she lingering there for? Did she eavesdrop on their entire conversation? He knew the house was small but surely she didn’t hear that from up here.

 

“He's a nice boy.” She spoke, totally disregarding what her son said. Mingyu felt himself become flustered. But for what reason? Nothing was going on between them? Did his mom know about all his girlfriends? All those stories travelled through school, surely if she heard him just talking to Wonwoo now from the stairs she had heard the countless times Seungcheol had screeched in the living loom about Mingyu’s escapades. Even if they weren’t real.

 

“He’s not like your other friends though. Does he fit in with them?” She asked out of curiosity. Mingyu coughed.

 

“He doesn’t hang out with them.” He answered her. His mom nodded knowingly, staying quiet for a moment and looking around at the walls before back to her son.

 

“I think it’s good that you made a friend outside of school. Kind of prepares you for college.” Mingyu quietly listened to her. His mom was always good at life advice things. He supposed it came from experience.

 

“I think meeting an array of people really helps you figure out what kind of person you are.”

 

“What kind of person I am?” Mingyu commented confused. His mom simply laughed and headed towards her room.

 

“High school doesn’t define who you are for the rest of your life, sweetie. You’ll see.”

 

Mingyu was left in an odd state of mind. Lying on his bed in the dark, again he was struggling to sleep for no other reason than Wonwoo was on his mind. If he hadn’t known him beforehand this would’ve been so much simpler. A study session once a week, even his mom’s comments wouldn’t have bothered his mind at all. But the fact was that he did know Wonwoo. And Wonwoo knew him too. But according to his mom, Mingyu didn’t really know himself anymore. He really wasn’t trying to lose sleep over this. Closing his eyes tightly he did anything to fall asleep, counting backwards, counting sheep. Counting sheep backwards. Eventually something worked as he fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably by now you’re sick of not knowing exactly what went on during summer lmao. So during the next two chapters there will likely be a lot of flashback moments to catch you up. Thank you for staying patient!


	10. Chapter 10

His first semester as a senior student was over. Walking out of his last midterm his plans had already been scheduled for him; Casa diablo tacos with his closest friends. And in all honesty, that was exactly what he needed right now. Just dumb talk, nothing serious, some good jokes. Mingyu didn’t know how he felt walking out of the science exam, but he felt confident in his English one. Too bad the same couldn’t be said for Soonyoung however.

 

“That was HORRIFIC.” He wailed into his nachos. Everyone ignoring him except for Mingyu, who pulled an arm around his best friend.

 

“I’m sure it was fine. Besides, you didn’t want to go to college anyway, right? What’s the big upset for then?” Mingyu tried to console him... not in the best way possible really.

  
“Because!” He dramatically picked up, making Minghao jump who was quietly listening as always. “Gotta please the ‘rents, haven’t I?”

 

“Please for the love of god tell me you didn’t just call your parents ‘the ‘rents’” Jihoon groaned loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose as he did so.

 

“Yes.” Soonyoung answered abruptly, decided not to entertain Jihoon right at this time. “If I didn’t get my grades up then they’re not going to think I’m responsible. And if they don’t think I’m responsible then they won’t let me move to L.A to start my acting career.” He continued to whine into Mingyu who was really trying not to laugh.

 

“You? Not be an actor? Oh no.” Mingyu fakely tried to comfort him. Making Soonyoung rip away from his best friend to sulk even more.

 

“You’re missing the whole point, Soonyoung.” Seungcheol butted in. “You were never responsible to begin with.” The table laughed because those words rang so true. Even Soonyoung couldn’t help a small smile that he tried to hide by picking up his drink to clear his throat before speaking again.

 

“Oh yeah? Then how come you’re not better off Mr. Not-one-single-college-offer-yet, hm?” But suddenly Mingyu’s smile dropped from his face.

 

“You haven’t had an offer yet?” He asked seriously. The look Seungcheol was shooting at Soonyoung could’ve killed. Mingyu was more shocked to realize his friends had been talking about college... without him.

 

“Yeah well, you’ve been busy I didn’t wanna say nothing.” Seungcheol tried to shove off. Clearly shutting down from the table, Jihoon thought it was appropriate to speak for him.

 

“His parents have money to send him to a good school. He just wanted to do it on his own, right?” The statement from Jihoon earned a small nod from Seungcheol. Mingyu had honestly never thought about this much. Seungcheol just... existed. As far as Mingyu was aware. He never saw him struggle on the field And off it? Well the two friends never really spoke about academics... So really it made sense for Mingyu not to know how Seungcheol may have been doing bad in his studies just as much as no one knew Wonwoo was helping Mingyu study too.

 

The mood soured for a moment. With Seungcheol able to single handedly rip apart anyone at the table, nobody wanted to joke about his current situation. So instead Minghao delicately changed the topic.

 

“Plans for winter, anyone?” He peeped. Jihoon and Soonyoung looked around to see who would answer first. Mingyu took the lead, and thus answered for Seungcheol too.

 

“Just football practice. We made it to regionals... So we got to train for that.” His voice still tentative, but he earned a nod from Seungcheol.

 

“Oooh, so no spicy parties this winter to keep you warm?” Soonyoung chuckled. Jihoon arched an eyebrow and finally Seungcheol seemed to become more invested again. It really wasn’t the time to let anyone down.

 

“Maybe one or two.” He smirked, instantly making Soonyoung fake fan himself like he couldn’t breathe.

 

“Oh-ho!” Soonyoung howled, “How about this year you take me, huh? Come on, I never get to do fun stuff.”

 

“He just doesn’t wanna leave high school a virgin.” Jihoon lowly commented, making Seungcheol almost spit out his rootbeer. Soonyoung glared but kept quiet anyway.

 

“I’ll think about it.” Mingyu replied, spinning his straw around his drink as he spoke. Surely they knew by now that meant he had no intention to bring Soonyoung but he held onto those words as if they were a definite invite.

 

“What about you guys?” Mingyu finally continued.

 

“Visiting family.” Minghao answered for himself. Soonyoung shrugged, clearly meaning he was going to play video games until five o’clock every morning. Jihoon mentioned something about tutoring middle school students for extra credit.

 

“Why? You’ve already got early acceptance to college.” Mingyu questioned.

 

“I know, but I like to boss them around.”

 

Time passed quickly until it was time to go home. Mingyu once again knowing his mom wouldn’t be awake, he snuck quietly up the stairs and onto his bed. Mid December was freezing. Being outside for more than two minutes was unbearable because in all honesty Mingyu hated the cold. And for some reason that made him think of Wonwoo.

 

 **June 7th, summer vacation**.

 

  
It was crazy that Mingyu was on his way to meet the boy he collided with in the supermarket just the other day. Every year since coming to see his grandma during the summer he had spent literally every day with her. He loved it. His grandma was a huge support for him when he was younger. When his parents divorced and it left a huge tear in his life, his grandma was there to help fill it again. That’s why he vowed, ever since middle school, he would spend every summer with her, and even now as a seventeen-year-old boy he remained the same.

 

That’s why it was crazy he was leaving her alone, even for one day. But she had told him ‘Go have fun! I’m fine every other day of the year, I’ll be fine today too.’ as he kissed her on the cheek before leaving to walk to the park maybe fifteen minutes away from her house.

 

June was hot. It wasn’t July or early august hot, but it was definitely a temperature not to be messed with. But Mingyu embraced it. He loved the heat, finding he didn’t actually sweat that much as long as he was just walking in it. His skin loved it too as he always found a pleasant glow still clinging onto him by the end of the summer. That just made it even more convincible that he spent every summer away at some camp outdoors all day.

 

Finally arriving to the park, he looked around for Wonwoo. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? The park was small, most of the people here during this time were families, enjoying the sunny days off with their children... No sign of one lonely boy to be seen. Hm.. That was until he noticed a figure sat under the tree.

 

“I thought you had forgotten about me.” Mingyu chirped as he headed over. Waving happily down to Wonwoo who in return simply put his book down and smiled back up to him.

 

“You took longer than I thought, so I came under here to wait.” Wonwoo replied.

 

“Great! Now get up, let’s go on a walk, I’ll show you around.” Mingyu encouraged. But that quickly earned a swipe of the head from Wonwoo.

 

“What, why not?” Mingyu chuckled unsurely. “Isn’t that why we agreed to meet here?”

 

“We agreed to meet. I didn’t agree to walk around in hell’s weather.” Wonwoo said, his voice having a tinge of playfulness but stubbornness in it. Mingyu laughed loudly.

 

“This is just the tip of the iceburg, my friend.”

 

“Ugh, iceburg, don’t remind me of the sweetness that is winter.” Wonwoo sighed in a fake dreamy voice. The pair of them laughed it off, but soon Mingyu just found himself watching Wonwoo. He was so content. Sitting under a large oak tree with his book, glasses framing his face that Mingyu had only just noticed. They definitely suited him. Wonwoo caught him staring and nervously looked down again.

 

“So you’re really not going to come out?” Mingyu asked again. This time earning a firm shake of the head from Wonwoo, but he couldn’t hide that teasing smile either. Mingyu quickly conceded. Climbing onto the grass in the shade, he had to admit it was nice to get the stinging sun off his arms for a moment. Thinking nothing of it he crawled over to Wonwoo, sitting right beside him and looking down into his lap at the book he had brought.

 

“What ‘cha reading?” He asked, prompting Wonwoo to close the book and show him the cover.

 

“It’s the Great Gatsby.” He answered.

 

“Isn’t that like... a book you read in class?”

 

“Yeah... But I like to read in my spare time too.” Wonwoo answered. Mingyu looked up to him curiously. Honestly the boy had never thought about doing such a thing... reading for fun. His spare time was usually spent with his friends.

 

“What do you like to do?” Wonwoo questioned him. It made Mingyu think hardly for a moment.

 

“Well I like to play football sometimes.” He answered, his throat slowly releasing the words, not as if he was unsure, but as if he was still trying to think of something else. Something more interesting... but that was just it. He wasn’t really all that interesting.

 

“I don’t really know much about sports.” Wonwoo commented. “I think that’s fun though, it’s good to be active.” Mingyu had noticed Wonwoo had returned to reading whilst he was talking. For the moment he wasn’t sure whether to continue talking or not... Wouldn’t it distract him? But thankfully Wonwoo answered that for him.

 

“I tried playing sports when I was younger.” He continued. “More soccer than football but I never got the hang of it. I don’t think team sports are really my thing.”

 

“I can teach you!” Mingyu suddenly announced. Making Wonwoo’s eyes jump away from the book to stare at him.

“What-”

 

“To play soccer, I can teach you.” Mingyu’s naïve smile said it all really. Wonwoo finding it completely adoring and for the moment they just stared at each other. Mingyu beamed with confidence, it was so convincing.

 

“...That was just your ploy to get me to go out of the shade, wasn’t it?” Wonwoo laughed. It took a moment but Mingyu finally caught on to what he meant, laughing himself before letting it die naturally.

 

“Nah, I wish I had more interests like this. Reading.” He poked towards Wonwoo’s book a little. Wonwoo looked down to the book, then back to Mingyu.

 

“Being active is good and all but what? You become a football player until you’re like, maybe thirty-eight and then what? You gotta retire? It’s better to have mind things rather than- than body things.”

 

“I think the phrase you’re looking for is mind over matter.” Wonwoo chuckled, sighing contently he nodded.

 

“I’m sure you’re not all matter though, too. That was pretty insightful even if it was in your own way.”

 

Mingyu felt his chest surge with pride. That was it, right? Pride? When somebody compliments you on something and you start to feel good? He didn’t really know, he just knew that Wonwoo already made him feel like this... then maybe this summer friendship could work out.

* * *

 

 

By the time Mingyu had gotten home he had already pulled his phone out of his pocket. The memory fresh in his head and the absolute need to suddenly speak to Wonwoo was almost physically hurting him. He missed him. Studying together was fine but what he missed was those moments over summer where the two of them just talked and got to know each other. Even if the kiss meant nothing, he still wanted to have that feeling back where they just talked.

 

_Mingyu:_   
_Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? 10.14pm_

 

Settling down in his bed, he knew Wonwoo would take a few moments to reply.

 

Wonwoo:  
Nothing. Don’t you have practice? 10.16pm

 

The fact that Wonwoo had learned Mingyu’s schedule by now was impressive really. But damn he was right. Mingyu did have practice until 6pm tomorrow. But he didn’t care.

 

_Mingyu:_   
_After practice. I thought I could come up and we could hang out? 10.17pm_

 

_Mingyu:_   
_At that park we went to. 10.17pm_

 

_Mingyu:_   
_It’s winter now, you won’t melt : ) 10.18pm_

 

Mingyu smirked at himself for that comment. And suddenly the reply was quicker.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_Hah, at least you remember that I hated that summer. 10.19pm_

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_Not because of you, by the way. 10.20pm_

 

Mingyu’s heart thumped heavily.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_But you’re really going to drive an hour to here just to visit that park with me? 10.21pm_

 

Mingyu gulped... Did that seem too desperate? Literally driving for an hour after practice in the freezing cold just to walk around some tiny park with Wonwoo... Damn, was it too late to unsend the texts?

 

_Mingyu:_   
_Yep.. So how about it? 10.23pm_

 

Confidence was the key apparently.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_Great. I’ll meet you there : ) Goodnight. 10.24pm_

 


	11. Chapter 11

Lying had started early for Mingyu, but really what difference was it than any other day. Seungcheol had told him some of the football team were going to try and crash a party tonight and invited ‘the legendary Kim Mingyu’ along too. Mingyu quickly declined that offer.

 

‘I’m not a gatecrasher. And besides I got my own plans tonight.’

 

That somehow quickly translated into ‘Mingyu is having his own party and we’re not cool enough to be invited’. He didn’t mind though, even if they took offence to not being invited Mingyu always able to move the conversation on. This time he just hyped up that once regionals was over, they would all throw a party together somehow and they accepted that. Throwing his bag in the back of his car he drove off in the opposite direction that he lived with.

 

The drive was maybe forty-five minutes, thankfully minimal traffic made that possible and Mingyu blasting music from his favorite CD really helped time fly. But it didn’t make him any less nervous. Why did he want to do this again? Right. Because he missed him. Not only did he miss Wonwoo but he missed how he felt that summer. Studying only brought back a tiny bit of that feeling. That feeling when meeting Wonwoo every day bubbled up in his stomach like butterflies. When getting to know him ended in them laughing. Mingyu not having to hide himself. He felt no need to impress Wonwoo and maybe that’s why everything happened so naturally. He desperately wanted that again.

 

He parked in a nearby parking lot, maybe a five-minute walk to the park and he was already regretting not wearing gloves. It was different running around during practice in the icy-cold where you naturally warm up, but now just walking really made Mingyu realize how much he disliked the cold. But that worry left his mind quickly as he spotted Wonwoo waiting for him.

 

He seemed content. Hands in his pockets and shallow breath releasing small puffs of white air just in front of his face. His eyes looking nowhere in particular around the dusky sky, he didn’t even notice Mingyu approach until he was maybe a few feet away from him.

 

“I hope you weren’t waiting too long in the cold.” Mingyu said. At least he had found something else to say other than ‘hey’. It was like... take the school away and suddenly Mingyu was someone else. Or maybe actually himself.

 

“It’s fine. I like the cold anyway.” Wonwoo replied, glancing over Mingyu quickly his eyes squinted a little.

 

“You didn’t bring gloves?”

 

Mingyu looked down to his bare hands.

 

“Guess I forgot I was coming here after practice.”

 

Mingyu suddenly looked concerned at what he said “Not like I didn’t want to come, or that I didn’t want to be here. I just meant when I was leaving my house this afternoon, I guess I didn’t think-”

 

“It’s okay, I get it.” Wonwoo replied, putting a stop to Mingyu’s rambling once more. Wonwoo rolled his head up to the sky before looking back to Mingyu.

 

“You’re a dunce, sometimes.” He teased. It made Mingyu laugh and for a moment he felt warm despite the cold.

 

The pair took a walk. Nothing glamorous; the pond in the park was frozen over. Too thin to ice skate on, and it’s not like it could fit more than a handful of people on it anyway if people did want to ice skate. The trees were barren and the moisture in the air was beginning to settle on the grass causing small crystals to form. It was peaceful. Quiet. Just the sound of the two of them talking as they turned near a set of swings.

 

“You know I never expected this place to be so empty in winter. In summer, getting one of these swings was like finding gold dust.” Wonwoo commented, with that comment he wandered over to the swing set. Taking one of the rustic metal chains in his hand before testing that it was sturdy enough to take his light weight before sitting down.

 

“That’s because whoever comes here during the summer thinks it’s crazy to want to play on these things in the winter.” Mingyu chuckled, following Wonwoo’s suit and walking over to the swings. Not taking nearly as much precaution with testing the swings before heavily dropping himself on one of the seats.

 

“So you’re calling me crazy?”

 

“Definitely.”

 

The two of them sat there for a moment. Wonwoo rolling his feet from heel to toe which made the swing move slightly back and forth. Mingyu didn’t move at all, instead he kept a firm grip on the steel chains, bare hands starting to burn from the cold. A few more moments of silence passed before Mingyu made a comment.

 

“So I saw you talking to Rebecca in social studies.” It was totally out of the blue and it showed as Wonwoo stopped swinging to hear him out.

 

“Yeah, she’s nice.” Wonwoo replied easily. Once again the silence settled in.

 

“Do you like her?” Mingyu had no idea where that question came from. It almost threw himself, and definitely threw Wonwoo.

 

“What? No?” Wonwoo’s voice sounded like a question but it was mostly because, really how did he answer such a sudden thing with sheer authority? He glanced to Mingyu who was currently refusing to look at him.

 

“We talk sometimes. Actually, she asked me to tutor her boyfriend for midterms, so I did.” Finally Mingyu looked over to Wonwoo, with a strange type of concern in his eyes.

 

“You’ve been tutoring someone else?” He pretty much gasped. Finally Wonwoo cracked and let out a sharp laugh.

 

“Yes, Mingyu, I’ve been cheating on you.” He said sarcastically, instantly making Mingyu realize that the tone of his voice was definitely classed as over reacting.

 

“I’ve been tutoring someone else. And even for money, does that make me a prostitute now?” Wonwoo continued to laugh, finally letting his legs start to swing again lightly.

 

Mingyu didn’t realize how tight his grip had been on the chains, the freezing cold making his skin numb the taller boy finally shoved his hands into his pockets in an attempt to thaw them out.

 

“But really, she has a boyfriend now?” Mingyu tried to sway the topic. Wonwoo nodded whilst still looking forward at nothing in particular. In Mingyu’s mind that was both a good and a bad thing. It was good because if she had a boyfriend that meant her and Wonwoo weren’t together. But... It also meant that he cared enough to wonder if Wonwoo was seeing someone else. Damn.

 

“Yeah, sorry you had to find out like that.” Wonwoo sighed a little, Mingyu tilting his head at him in confusion. Wonwoo looked back over to him.

 

“You were together right?” Wonwoo’s words really didn’t help and Mingyu now continued to stare at him in confusion of ‘how did he know that?’ But thankfully Wonwoo continued.

 

“Sorry, word travels fast at this school.”

 

‘You got that right’ Mingyu thought.

 

“She actually told me you two dated. After I told her I was tutoring you.” Now Mingyu’s mind was really exploding. People knew? Sure about him dating Rebecca, but now people knew Wonwoo tutored Mingyu? Who else knew? His mind almost went into complete overdrive until something finally came out of his mouth.

 

“What? No I- I don’t care about that. We dated, like, back when we were sophomores. I’m so over that.” Mingyu defended himself. In reality... he was never really that into Rebecca in the first place to get over her.

 

What happened during sophomore year was more of a bet than anything. Rebecca being immensely popular, Mingyu on the up and coming scale. All of his friends were convinced he couldn’t get any girl at the school, let alone the most popular in their grade.

 

‘You always talk about these girls you meet outside of school, we never see you interested in the ones here.’ Soonyoung would call Mingyu out so many times that eventually he caved into the peer pressure and asked her out.

 

Of course she said yes, Mingyu was handsome, it was almost like he never went through that hideous pre-pubescent rite of passage almost required during middle school and just skipped straight to the good looking stage. But the dating didn’t last long. Both of them feeling like it just wasn’t working and they called it quits. After two months of, if you can call it dating, which was really just holding hands and going to the movies on the weekends alone.

 

“Well what about now?” Wonwoo interrupted his train of thought. Mingyu blinking to bring himself back to their current topic of conversation.

 

“What about now?” He repeated.

 

“Are you seeing anyone now?”

 

Those words caused a rush to Mingyu’s head. Was Wonwoo seriously asking him that? And in what way? Mingyu’s heart was screaming ‘you can’t go around telling somebody a kiss meant nothing and then ask them if they’re single later’ whereas his mind was saying ‘it’s a roll-on topic of the conversation, you dummy, it doesn’t mean anything.’ And Mingyu didn’t know which one hurt more. He was inwardly panicking, Wonwoo asking his head, pulling himself forward on the swing just enough to see Mingyu staring into oblivion, but not long enough to pull him away from it as Mingyu finally answered.

 

“No. Not yet.” Fuck, dammit. What was that even supposed to mean? ‘Not yet’. Did he plan on it? He was cursing himself in his mind but luckily Wonwoo didn’t delve into that mine field.

 

“Oh. Me too.” He replied simply. He began to swing back and forth again, and in a way that comforted Mingyu. Nothing was too big of a deal with Wonwoo, he took everything in his stride so easily. Just how Mingyu liked to make himself look when really on the inside he was dying, just like now. And it reminded him of the summer they met.

 

 **July 6th, summer vacation**.

  
“Have you ever done it?” Mingyu did his absolute best not to stutter a single word. Wonwoo blinked a few times. Totally missing the point. The conversation arising from the book Wonwoo currently had in his hands; the book he was just currently explaining to Mingyu, how could he miss the point? Ugh, Mingyu really didn’t want to have to explain, he was hoping a switch would just flick on in Wonwoo’s head and make him realize what ‘it’ meant, but Mingyu was having no luck today.

 

“Done what?”

 

God, why couldn’t this just be straight forward.

 

“You know... it.” The elongated wait between the sentence and the last word really etching into Wonwoo’s mind what he meant.

 

“Oh? Oh.” The moment it clicked in his mind he spoke the first word, followed by the tone of the second. The book he was telling Mingyu about was the Great Gatsby. How Gatsby had fabricated his entire life in order to win back his lost love from whom lived just across the lake from him and ho he threw parties for every week in the hopes that she would show up to one of them. Mingyu had asked why Gatsby didn’t just show up after his army service and find her, and Wonwoo had explained ‘because Daisy was from a luxurious background and Gatsby felt unworthy to go after her because he came from nothing’.

 

Of course the correct route to follow after such a question should probably have been related to if Daisy really was that conceited not to marry her true love because of money, but of course in a seventeen-year-old boy’s mind there was usually only one question. And it was usually related to sex.

 

“Um, once. It’s a boring story really, not like Gatsby trying to win Daisy back.” Wonwoo conceded, closing his book as clearly the rest of the conversation wasn’t going to be related about it.

 

Honestly, Mingyu didn’t expect much more of an answer than that. Nodding his head quietly he chewed on his lip a little, letting out a small ‘oh’ which somehow Wonwoo must have mistaken for a ‘please continue’ hint.

 

“Yeah, you know the usual ‘first boyfriend, think he’s the love of your life’ story. Only for them to take your virginity and not call or text you back again the next day.” Wonwoo leaned back, his hands digging into the grass to keep him steady and trying his best to keep a calm face and keep looking forward whilst he waited for Mingyu to process the story.

 

Mingyu’s eyes were wide with pure shock. Wonwoo had spilled over his words as if the entire thing was totally casual, like they hadn’t known each other only a month. But out of that month they had spent nearly every day together under the shade of the trees in the park where Wonwoo lived. But Wonwoo had spoken with pure clarity and reason in mind. Yes, this was a test.

 

“Wow.” Mingyu managed to sigh, Wonwoo secretly holding his breath as he heard it.

 

“That sucks, I’m sorry.”

 

“Yeah... Well it was a while ago so. Don’t worry, I’m over it.” There was a definite strain in Wonwoo’s voice. To him, he still hadn’t heard the right answer that he was expecting to hear from that story.

 

“No I meant-” Mingyu shuffled to sit up more, still looking dead forward at this point, which worried Wonwoo beyond all measures.

 

“Sucks to be him, wow.” Finally Mingyu looked over to Wonwoo. God if Mingyu was any better at reading people’s reactions he would’ve seen the utter relief on Wonwoo’s face right now. He swore in that moment he could’ve just tackled Mingyu out of pure happiness, but also Wonwoo remained glued to his spot as Mingyu wasn’t finished.

 

“You’re an amazing guy, how could anyone just up and leave you like that? What a dick.” Mingyu sounded 100% serious, and it was that which sold it for Wonwoo. A small smile forming on the corner of his lips, Mingyu catching it which made him laugh a little. Allowing the seriousness to spill away from the two of them.

 

“Well what about you? Have you uh-” Wonwoo retaliated, only to have Mingyu’s own babbling noises take over in an attempt for Wonwoo not to finish that sentence.

 

“Me? Oh, oh no.” He stuttered, now it was Wonwoo’s turn to sit up and watch him. “I’ve never- nooo, I’ve not-” Finally Mingyu sighed and allowed himself to stop sounding so dumb.

 

“This is gonna sound stupid.” He laughed, Wonwoo crossing his legs and letting his book drop onto the grass, leaning forward in an attempt to look at Mingyu better.

 

“Come on, I’m the one who got dumped the day after, you can’t beat that for stupidity.” He tried to lighten the mood, and it worked slightly as Mingyu chuckled and smirked, looking down at the grass he sat on.

 

Suddenly it dawned on him. Wonwoo actually didn’t know about his ‘reputation’. He had no need to prove himself, or be someone he wasn’t. As he just learned two minutes ago from Wonwoo apparently pretending to be somebody you’re not was not the best way to win back a former love so... Why start now? Mingyu... could be himself.

 

“I actually uh- I always wanted to wait until I was eighteen before... you know. You know I just- didn't want to rush into it.” He admitted. Wonwoo smiling in a way as if to thank him for being honest. Mingyu suddenly started laughing.

 

“It sounds so stupid now that I think about it. You know, all my friends do is talk about it. And think it’s so important and if they found out that I-” He began to ramble but Wonwoo’s hand reached over to tap Mingyu’s leg. It was like an instant soothing sensation.

 

“Hey it’s fine, you do you.” Wonwoo reassured him quickly. Taking a deep breath in before continuing, Mingyu’s insecurities were still biting.

 

“It’s so dumb though. Like waiting- who does that?” He shuddered out through a laugh as if he was trying to joke it off, but in reality he was just afraid. Afraid of being judged. Afraid of being lesser than somebody and losing everything he had. Just afraid to be himself.

 

“Hm, I don’t know.” Wonwoo seemed to muse, and for a split second it made Mingyu just want to run away. Was he agreeing- that no one waited? Was it stupid? But Wonwoo continued.

 

“It’s a respectable thing really.” Mingyu sharply turned his head to look at Wonwoo. Wonwoo’s eyes were soft, no hidden meaning in them, or wanting to delve or dig for information. Only comfort and warmth. For that time before either of them spoke Mingyu could’ve sworn it was like it was only them two in the entire park filled with screaming children and playground laughter.

 

“Really?” Mingyu managed to whisper through a smile, earning a firm nod from Wonwoo.

 

“Yeah. It shows that you’re thinking about it. That you don’t want to rush into things and make mistakes. That means you’re probably not going to regret; so yeah, waiting is a good thing, I think.” With the last of his words Wonwoo let go out Mingyu’s leg. Leaning back and picking his book back up he slowly thumbed through the pages once more. A few silent moments progressed before Mingyu spoke again.

 

“Do you regret it?” Wonwoo didn’t pause from looking through his book or even look up.

 

“Nah. It wasn’t all that special really. If anything, I wish I could’ve had this talk with you back then.” Wonwoo finally paused at a page, Mingyu moving back to lean on the tree behind them.

 

“Maybe things might’ve been different. Maybe I would’ve waited.”

* * *

  
It had only been a few passing moments until Wonwoo yawned. Signaling he was tired, instantly Mingyu looked over to him in a bit of concern.

 

“Do you wanna go?” He asked, leaning over to look at Wonwoo, his eyes becoming sleepy.

 

“Where did you park? I’ll walk you back.” Wonwoo offered. The pair standing up and leaving together.

 

It was a five-minute-walk. Mostly in silence, and Mingyu could swear that the only time he enjoyed silence was when he was with Wonwoo. It never felt awkward, and even when Mingyu did speak to break it the silence after never felt awkward too. Soon they were back to Mingyu’s car and he rubbed his hands together to create friction before searching in his pocket for his keys.

 

“You’re crazy. I still can’t believe you didn’t wear gloves.” Wonwoo commented, Mingyu too distracted looking for his keys didn’t even realize Wonwoo had said anything until he saw something black being held in front of his face.

 

“Take these.” Wonwoo said, holding out a pair of gloves with his now bare hands.

 

“What? No, you need them more than I do.” Mingyu dismissed, but Wonwoo only became pushier.

 

“You need to be able to feel the wheel whilst you’re driving home. I think you need them more than me.” His voice teased, pushing them into Mingyu, but Mingyu pushed them back once more.

 

“Well what if you decide to go read a book somewhere tomorrow and your fingers drop off?” Sure it was over dramatic, but it made Wonwoo laugh until he pushed the gloves back to Mingyu once more.

 

“I need them for turning pages. You need them for catching footballs, which by the way, you need to be able to do if you want to go to college.”

 

Mingyu finally conceded.

 

Taking the gloves he put them on quickly, the heat of Wonwoo’s hands still inside had Mingyu smiling to himself like an idiot as he finally unlocked her car.

 

“You gonna be okay getting home? I can drive you.” Mingyu hastily offered, but Wonwoo just smiled whilst shaking his head.

 

“Go. I live ten minutes from here, tops.” His teeth showing as he smiled through his sentence. “You’ve got an hour to drive and it’s already late, you should go.”

 

“It only took me forty-five to get here.”

 

“Did you speed to come see me?” Wonwoo’s cheeky tone was enough to silence Mingyu as he finally got in the car to leave.

 

Wonwoo was right, driving back took maybe closer to an hour than it did on the way there but Mingyu wasn’t complaining. He smiled for most of the ride. Reaching home he went straight to the bathroom, using the shower as a quick source to warm up before climbing into bed. Now suddenly the silence wasn’t so welcoming.

 

He turned onto his side. It had been maybe twenty minutes since he had closed his eyes to try to get to sleep but once again it wasn’t working. Why was it every time he saw Wonwoo he couldn’t sleep that night? Finally admitted defeat he opened his eyes. His room still dark with the exception of the slight beige tint from the moon through his curtains he turned over to grab his phone.

 

Really, what was he thinking? Texting Wonwoo at this hour, wow he really was desperate. But he began to think it was the only way he was going to be able to sleep tonight. Maybe if Wonwoo didn’t reply then he would know he was sleep too, and that way he could sleep better.

 

_Mingyu:_   
_Are you awake? 1.23am_

 

He held his phone to his chest for a few moments. Eyes feeling heavy but not from tiredness just yet. He was hoping he would fall asleep in any given second. That was until his phone buzzed with a reply.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_Not yet. Is something wrong? 1.24am_

 

Why was he awake? Really the better question was why was Mingyu texting him at some ungodly hour so of course it was totally reasonable as to why Wonwoo thought there was something wrong. Another question on his mind too, why did Wonwoo reply faster at night?

 

_Mingyu:_   
_No, I was just wondering.. 1.24am_

 

Fuck, now he needed to come up with something to wonder.

 

_Mingyu:_   
_What are you doing NYE? 1.25am_

 

What a dumb question.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_No plans yet. Why do you ask? 1.25am_

 

_Mingyu:_   
_Do you wanna hang out? 1.25am_

 


	12. Chapter 12

He had no idea how he had convinced Wonwoo at 1.30am to hang out with him on New Year’s Eve, but it worked. With Wonwoo unconvinced that they weren’t going to end up at some party five minutes before midnight, but also trying to avoid the disappointment of zero fireworks in Wonwoo’s town, Mingyu had come to the compensation of driving to their school parking lot. Where they were convinced no one would be because of course everyone avoids school grounds like the plague during vacation, but it was still close enough to the town hall where they could see the best fireworks. Mingyu being dumb again had brought only Wonwoo’s gloves and not his own. But thankfully Wonwoo had been one step ahead and also brought an extra pair.

 

“See them as a late Christmas present.” Wonwoo said. The two of them had parked their cars nearby and headed over to a bench facing the direction of town hall. The air glistening from the smoke of early fireworks set off by neighbors made their breath seem less dense in the cold night. Wonwoo’s hair matching the darkness of the sky, even his clothes blended in as he wore a black jacket and jeans. Mingyu had discovered by now, it didn’t matter what the weather was like, Wonwoo would always wear jeans. Mingyu, on the other hand, was wearing jogging pants. Thicker material to keep him warm, with his hoodie zipped all the way up to the top, ending just below his chin. He didn’t strictly care for fashion but he did find that no matter what he wore tended to look good on him. It was just a gift.

 

“It’s weird, right?” Wonwoo asked vaguely. Finally making Mingyu pay attention instead of staring into the dark sky. It was maybe thirty minutes until midnight by the time Wonwoo arrived, the sky was clear of any fireworks currently as people awaited the new year.

 

“What?” Mingyu responded. Wonwoo leaned back on the bench, letting his shoulders slack against the cold metal which help relax his neck so he was able to comfortably sit down and look up to the sky.

 

“This is the last day of this year we’ll be in high school.” Wonwoo’s voice expressed no concern with those words but it didn’t hit Mingyu any less.

 

He had worked so hard throughout his high school life. To build a reputation, to shape himself into this person everyone thought he was. Was he going to have to do it all over again in college? Some of the groundwork was already covered, like the football side of it. And surely by that age no one actually cared about how many girlfriends you had, or how many girls you had slept with... or if you even liked girls in the first place. That was something which still confused Mingyu from time to time. It wasn’t that he didn’t like girls, in fact he found them hot as his friends would call them. He just... Didn’t particularly want to do the things his friends wanted to do with them, that’s all. In fact, he hadn’t done anything with anybody so how could he really know for sure what or who he did or didn’t like? It was all just a mess. A mess he always liked to avoid, and a mess he could avoid up until Wonwoo joined his school.

 

“Yeah...” Mingyu sighed, choosing to lean forward rather than sit back.

 

“This time next year we’ll both be in college. Well, you definitely. But me?” He began to ramble until Wonwoo also joined him in sitting forward.

 

“I told you not to worry.” Wonwoo reassured once more, “You’ll do fine.” Mingyu managed to sigh a small laugh as a way to thank him for being positive. He was always so positive. Even in the subtlest of ways. The two fell back into a quiet for a moment. Mingyu reflecting on if he did manage to ace his midterms that the scholarship would be pretty much in his grasp. He could do it... all thanks to Wonwoo.

 

“Has it been hard?” It was Mingyu’s turn to ask the cryptic questions. “Not only being a year older than most people in our grade, but being new too?”

 

Wonwoo thought hard about it for a second. Narrowing his eyes a little before answering.

 

“It’s tough, yeah.” He admitted, already making Mingyu’s heart ache. “For one, everyone wants to know why I had to retake a year. And two, yeah coming into a new school in the last year when everybody already knows each other... It’s a little hard to make friends.”

 

Mingyu frowned. Remembering when Wonwoo told him about why he had to retake a year. When he was sick. He could see why such a thing would be hard to bring up to people, especially people you didn’t really know... Especially in high school. Rumors spread like wildfire and it there wasn’t a truth then something else would just be said instead. Things manifested so easily and turned toxic so fast... Mingyu began to wonder why he didn’t want to run away from this place himself, too.

 

“So... you’re probably looking forward to college then, right?” The line slowly leaving Mingyu’s tongue as if he was individually thinking each word as he said it. Wonwoo smiled a little and nodded.

 

“Yeah, you could say so.” He said. Pausing a little to look to Mingyu. “Isn’t it the same for you?”

 

Mingyu looked a little perplexed. Surely Wonwoo saw how ‘easy’ Mingyu had it in high school? From the outside, Mingyu had it all; the notoriety, girls, captain of the football team. Mingyu was living the American high school dream... And he was slowly realizing he didn’t want any of it. But right now his mind was clinging onto those facts. He wasn’t about to give up everything he had worked hard for at the final hurdle and risk it all.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well...” Wonwoo hissed a little to start. “You don’t seriously think you and all your friends are going to go to the same college, do you?”

 

He was right. Already Mingyu knew that Soonyoung wasn’t going to college. His best friend of nearly eighteen years, they were born and raised together almost. Sure, Soonyoung was too clingy to ever let Mingyu go as a friend but wherever he ended up... It wasn’t going to be in the same place as Mingyu. Jihoon had already accepted his early admission in a college on the east coast, Minghao, Mingyu had no idea about. And Seungcheol... that was an area Mingyu didn’t want to think about. But the facts were there, this time next year they were very unlikely to still be friends.

 

“I mean, we’re not even going to go to the same college.” Oh god, how that hit him. His friends, yes. Mingyu knew some of them were too stubborn to give up, or he was too stubborn to give up on them. But Wonwoo? The whole world could be his oyster. He was smart, passionate, insightful... He was so much that Mingyu could never amount to and he could never keep up with. Even as they sat on the bench at their high school, he could feel Wonwoo practically slipping away from him every passing second in this conversation. And that petrified him. Oh god, he really didn’t want to lose Wonwoo.

 

Mingyu stayed frigidly still for a prolonged time, Wonwoo half concerned on what was making him panic internally so much but he didn’t push him. Instead he waited. He waited for Mingyu to open back up to him.

 

“I guess... I never really thought about that before.”

 

Wonwoo gave him a moment to think. Giving too much information quickly was just a way to overload a person and make them shut down, and Wonwoo liked to think he knew people better than that. He certainly knew Mingyu better than that by the looks of things.

 

“Statistically, most people don’t remain friends with the people they met in high school.” Wonwoo finally continued.

 

“That’s why I’m not too bothered about making friends this year.”

 

That made perfect sense to Mingyu, but to himself? It wasn’t just high school, he had been friends with some of these people since middle school, since pre-k. Surely that meant something different, right? His mind was a mess right now but worst of all out of everything all he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss Wonwoo.

 

Kissing him meant he would have to hold on. That they wouldn’t end as ‘high school friends’ hopefully and the two of them would be forced to deal with that and Mingyu would never lose Wonwoo. That’s what he wanted. God, but he just had to keep remembering what Wonwoo said. ‘It didn’t mean anything’ It didn’t mean anything. If he kissed Wonwoo now then it would all be ruined and he wouldn’t have that friend even until the end of the year. Mingyu’s mind was definitely doing overtime right now and each time Wonwoo carefully compiled his choice of words.

 

“But they say college it where you find yourself.” Wonwoo added. Mingyu was listening to the familiarity of those words. “Meeting people from different places, outside the town where people spend most of their lives... Really helps you figure out what kind of person you are.”

 

Then it all clicked. What his mom said to him the day she met Wonwoo, she said the same thing.

 

‘Meeting an array of people really helps you figure out what kind of person you are’.

 

Mingyu found himself mumbling those words back to Wonwoo, who in returned just smiled.

 

“Yeah, that’s right.” Wonwoo’s voice seemed brighter than before. Catching Mingyu’s attention a little more, it brought him back to the conversation. Wonwoo leaned back again. Noise could be heard from heard in the distance, sounding like people cheering even though Wonwoo had quickly checked his watch and seen they still had at least two more minutes left until the new year. He didn’t tell Mingyu that yet. Wonwoo felt like this was good for him; for the two of them.

 

“That’s what I can’t wait for.” Wonwoo spoke, stretching his back a little against the bench.

 

“To just be myself, without worrying. And to find people like myself. Know what I mean?”

 

Wonwoo didn’t expect an answer from Mingyu, and he wasn’t going to get one either. Instead Mingyu just turned to face him. He noticed how the extended time in the cold had made the tip of Wonwoo’s nose turn red and the skin on his cheeks look chaffed. A small glimmer of teeth shining through his smile still despite the depressing talk and the freezing temperatures. Fireworks started to explode in the background only adding to this overwhelming sensation he was feeling. Suddenly Mingyu jumped.

 

“What time is it?” His voice panicked. Making Wonwoo jump a little too he quickly checked his watch.

 

“It’s 11.59” He answered, counting the seconds to gauge exactly how long they had. “We have fifteen seconds.”

 

Kiss him. Ran through Mingyu’s mind. His eyes widening as he watched Wonwoo stand up whilst still looking at his watch.

 

“ten seconds!”

 

**KISS HIM.**

 

Mingyu stood up too, contrastingly quiet compared to the excitement radiating off of Wonwoo right now as he was watching the sky intently, waiting for the fireworks. It seemed the entire town had caught up at the distant sound of counting near the town hall could be heard.

 

‘Five, four, three, two, one!’

 

**_KISS HIM!!_ **

 

‘Happy new year!’

 

With that the fireworks boomed. Bright lights of rainbow colors exploding in the black sky, lighting it up beautifully as Wonwoo smiled widely at it. The noise broke Mingyu’s train of thought as his eyes shot up to also enjoy the spectacle.

 

All of a sudden the cold was gone. The year was over, and it was never coming back. Mingyu felt a warmth radiating inside of him as he stood next to Wonwoo, his eyes slowly drifting down from the fireworks to look over the boy beside him. The first smile he saw in the new year being such bright and real. Belonging to Jeon Wonwoo. What a way to start the new year. Eventually Wonwoo realized a set of eyes were not looking at the sky. Lowering his gaze he turned to look at Mingyu, his smile gently simmering into a smaller, but no less meaningful of a smile. It didn’t take a genius to work out what Mingyu was thinking, but at this moment in time the genius was taking a day off. So he simply spoke:

 

“Happy new year, Mingyu.” 


	13. Chapter 13

The new semester had started and Mingyu had to say just that. It was new. Suddenly everything had begun to feel different. Even his classes suddenly felt easier, but he didn’t know if that was just due to midterms being over and he wasn’t studying as hard currently. And speaking of midterms, the results were slowly coming in. He wasn’t worried about most of his classes, just English and Science. That was what he spent so long studying for with Wonwoo, even after Wonwoo left he had told him to keep studying by himself too. And that definitely paid off. Sitting in English class he found out he got an A+ in his exam. Amazing! Honestly, he just counted himself lucky that the questions were mostly about character analysis. He reminded himself to thank Wonwoo later.

 

Walking into Science class his teacher was handing out the graded papers. His nerves began to rise with the mixture of reactions from his classmates, from the devastating to the extremely happy. And next it was Mingyu’s turn.

 

_**A.** _

 

His teacher quietly congratulated him on bringing his grades up. Mingyu gripped the paper tightly in his hands as if he couldn’t believe it was real. Here he was, so close to going to college on a full scholarship if he could keep this up. He just had to tell Wonwoo. He had to thank him somehow.

 

The rest of Science class was just like review. Reviewing common mistakes made on the midterms and what they could do better next time and focus on. Mingyu took in every little bit of information in order to retain his current grade. But really, he was just fixing to get out of the classroom and find Wonwoo. The bell rang and he hurriedly grabbed his bag, exiting into the corridor in an attempt to make it to the parking lot before the majority of the students fill it out so he could find Wonwoo’s car and thank him before he drove home.

 

He almost missed the tension rising in the hallway.

 

To say he almost missed it could’ve been an understatement. Many times there had been fights in the hallway of these schools, and never once did it concern Mingyu. Rarely it concerned Seungcheol but he often got his aggression out on the field, so there was nothing to worry about as Mingyu tried to push his way through the gathering crowd close to a set of lockers.

 

“You fucking nerd. I failed my science exam because of you!” A half familiar voice rang throughout the hall. It pricked Mingyu’s ears, but not enough to give him reason to stop.

 

“Now what? I gotta hire you to save my ass for finals? If you are so fucking smart why didn’t I ace these exams like you said I would!?” The banging sound of someone hitting the lockers caused students to scuffle away from the area in order to avoid collateral damage. Mingyu had managed to push his way through half of the crows, trying his best to avoid the drama himself.

 

“I said you would pass if you put in the same amount of effort self-studying as you did during tutoring.” That voice may have been strained, but Mingyu heard it clearly. And the worst part was that he recognized it. It made Mingyu stop is his tracks. Finally overlooking the students still crowding around the scene he saw it. Wonwoo being pressed up against the lockers by Daniel’s hand around his throat. Daniel was another football player on the team, shorter than Wonwoo but definitely stronger. And Wonwoo... He wasn’t a fighter anyway.

 

“That’s what the tutoring was for! So I didn’t have to study outside of them! Fuck, are you really that stupid?” Daniel spat in laughter, Wonwoo’s hand curled around his fist Daniel didn’t oblige and only tightened his grip.

 

‘Fight, fight, fight!’ The students practically sang in a chorus, finally Mingyu made center ring in a bid to stop them.

 

“Hey, Danny, come on.” He spoke in a stern voice. Daniel’s eyes didn’t even flicker away from Wonwoo, but Wonwoo was now fixated on Mingyu’s presence.

 

“If you would’ve studied like he said then you would’ve done better. It’s not his fault.” Mingyu defended Wonwoo, and that made Daniel mad.

 

“Fuck off, it’s his fault!” He hissed, tightening around Wonwoo’s throat again and it finally made Mingyu step in.

 

Mingyu took a firm hold of Daniel’s arm as a warning, but he still didn’t listen. “Don’t fucking touch me, I know about you two!” Suddenly Mingyu’s entire body froze and his grip became weak. Daniel staring into Wonwoo’s eyes with rage.

 

“Yeah, I know about you two.” His voice seeming sly and vindictive. Panic truly set in on Mingyu as he was speechless. Just how much did he know? Did Wonwoo tell him? There were so many emotions flurried inside his head right now, Mingyu felt like he could be on both sides of his attack.

 

“I know he tutors you too, is that where all your attention goes, nerd?” Daniel somehow managed to push Wonwoo further into the locker, Wonwoo now choking harder. Quickly Mingyu snapped back, pulling Daniel’s arm from the boy’s throat.

 

“I bet you’ve got some sick crush on him or something. That’s why you give him extra attention!”

 

“Alright Danny, enough!” Mingyu raised his voice. It was enough to stop the general chatter of the students watching the current event unfold, and enough for Danny to finally pull his eyes away from Wonwoo.

 

“I bet you like it too, huh captain?” The boys throat almost seemed to gloat those words. Anger instantly rising inside of Mingyu that it made him unable to move.

 

That break in silence was just what Daniel needed. His fist swinging for Wonwoo’s face, catching him squarely in the nose and knocking the taller boy against the lockers and down to the ground. The whole scene erupted with sound of shock once more, Mingyu not being quick enough to react to stop it.

 

“That’s it!” Suddenly another voice from behind called. Mingyu managing to get a look at Seungcheol bursting his way through the crowd, quickly tackling one side of Daniel to take the arm which had just inflicted damage on Wonwoo’s nose.

 

Mingyu joined him, taking a hold of Daniel’s other arm, causing the angry kid to scream with rage at being restrained, with very little effort Seungcheol and Mingyu managed to pull him back to the crowd.

 

“You’re benched! All of regionals, Danny! Kiss your scholarships goodbye!” Mingyu snapped. Pushing his teammate against the crowd who all panicked and moved out of the way. All Daniel could do was stare his captain down before snorting a laugh and turning around to leave. Seungcheol gave Mingyu a look. A look that read ’I’ll take care of him, go take care of damage control.’ Mingyu managed to finally take a deep breath of air in as he turned back to find Wonwoo.

 

Already the crowd had jumped forward. Gathering around Wonwoo who was trying to pick himself up off the floor, one hand covering his nose still. Thankfully someone had given him tissues, Mingyu spotting them stuffed through Wonwoo’s fingers in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

 

“Alright everyone, back off! Give him some room!” Mingyu announced with clear authority. Pushing through a little to create a barrier on his way back to Wonwoo he leaned down and helped Wonwoo pick himself up.

 

“Are you alright?” It was definitely the dumbest question, but the only thing that could come to mind right now as Mingyu looked over Wonwoo time and time again, checking for any other injuries. He couldn’t see the damage, other than the blood-stained tissues and the heaviness of Wonwoo’s eyes, he pulled Wonwoo’s arm over his shoulder to help him away from the crowd.

 

He walked slowly. Wonwoo struggling to keep up, he was still clearly out of it from the attack, probably dazed and confused. They didn’t speak at all. Mingyu was almost scared to speak, he didn’t want to hear Wonwoo try to talk after being subjected to strangulation for god knows how many minutes. And he didn’t know how much damage that punch had inflicted either. Did he need stitches? All Mingyu was focusing on was getting Wonwoo back to his car. As they arrived to it, Mingyu finally let go to allow Wonwoo to lean against it.

 

“Let me see.” Mingyu’s voice was so low and gentle, Wonwoo obliging and slowly lowering the mound of tissues he had hold of. Mingyu couldn’t help but let out a small wincing sound at the look of it.

 

“Is it bad?” Wonwoo spoke, his voice sounding hoarse and broken. It killed Mingyu to hear.

 

“Not really.” Mingyu answered. Tilting his head to examine him a little bit more. “Let’s just say Rudolph isn’t red this year, he’s purple.” He couldn’t help the joke.

 

Thankfully the bleeding had stopped. Wonwoo’s nose was stained and throbbing dark purple already, Mingyu had seen this sort of thing a lot of times whilst playing football.

 

“It looks like crushed cartilage. I don’t think it’s broken, but you do need to get ice on it.” Mingyu fully rolled out the results of his examination. It made Wonwoo smile, though his smile flinched from the pain of his face.

 

“Look at you, Dr. Kim.” Wonwoo managed to tease back. Making Mingyu laugh, at least his sense of humor was intact.

 

“Get in the car, I’ll drive you home.” It was almost a demand from Mingyu and it made Wonwoo look at him shocked.

 

“What?”

“You heard.” Mingyu smiled, the bossy tone clearly not something Wonwoo was used to hearing from him even though it was part of Mingyu’s job as captain.

 

“You can’t drive home like this. You might have a concussion.”

 

Wonwoo conceded. Climbing into the passenger side of his own car, Mingyu took the wheel. He still remembered exactly where Wonwoo lived, even after all these months. Picking up speed he drove absentmindedly. Checking on Wonwoo every couple of minutes, the journey was filled with Mingyu giving him advice on how to handle bruised cartilage and saying ‘don’t fall asleep. You can’t sleep with a concussion, it’s dangerous.’ Eventually Wonwoo began to lighten up.

 

“You know you really have a caring nature. Did you ever actually think about becoming a doctor?” He asked. Mingyu gulped down his laughter.

 

“Nah, I’m not smart enough for all that.” Mingyu spoke. They weren’t too far from Wonwoo’s town now, Mingyu signaling off the freeway.

 

“By the way I aced both of my exams. Thanks to you.” He glanced over to Wonwoo. He assumed that the quick grin the other boy shot him was the best he could do without hurting his face anymore, the bruising spreading under his eyes a little now but Mingyu didn’t mention it.

 

“At least one of you is grateful.” Wonwoo managed to mutter.

 

Conversation died again. Mingyu allowing Wonwoo to rest until they pulled up outside of his home. Neither of them in a rush to get out of the car as they knew the air outside was starkly colder than the car right now.

 

“Thanks.” Wonwoo finally mumbled. He had spent the past minute checking his nose in the passenger mirror, trying his best to dust off the dried blood whilst at the same time commenting on how bad it looked.

 

“I’ve seen worse.” Mingyu commented in some attempt to make him feel better. “At least you don’t need stitches. Seungcheol once bust his nose wide open, he couldn’t come to school for weeks.” Wonwoo wanted to laugh but that would’ve hurt too much, so instead he lifted and lowered his shoulders like he was laughing.

 

“How are you going to get home?”

 

Well that was an issue Mingyu hadn’t thought of yet. It showed, in the few silent moments it took for him to reply to Wonwoo’s question.

 

“I’ll just stay at my grandma’s tonight.” He spoke. That was actually a well figured out answer, Wonwoo definitely felt proud he thought of it all by himself. “It’s only a thirty-minute walk from here, I’m sure she will be happy to see me.”

 

“You’re going to walk all that way in this weather?” Wonwoo stressed his concern, his voice now less gravel-like than earlier which had put Mingyu’s mind at rest.

 

“Well I’m gonna have to.” Mingyu half spluttered a chuckle.

 

“I left my car at the school so I could drive you home.”

 

“Oh yeah...” Wonwoo lazily drew out. Mingyu laughed a little harder.

 

“I think that blow took a few of your IQ points with it, huh?”

 

Wonwoo managed to laugh through the pain, looking back it was nice to feel safe now and joke about something so traumatizing easily like this. With Mingyu.

 

“Yeah, guess you’ll be the one tutoring me this semester.” The two of them laughed at that comment.

 

“Well actually, I had been meaning to ask you. I didn’t want to lose momentum, so I was wondering if we could study again. After winter break?”

 

Wonwoo seemed to give that a moment of thought before nodding in agreement.

 

“That would be nice.”

 

Another moment of silence passed between them, except this time Mingyu was finding it harder to deal with. Ever since that overwhelming urge to kiss Wonwoo on New Year’s Eve he had to say that the feeling did not die down. He thought about it most nights. He thought about it whilst texting Wonwoo, and he was most definitely thinking about it now. Even with his nose scuffed up, whenever Wonwoo smiled it made Mingyu’s chest tighten and that urge become stronger.

 

“Considering you had to leave your car at the school, how about I pick you up tomorrow morning?”

 

“What? No, it’s fine. I can get my grandma to drive me there. You should take the day off and rest.” Mingyu fought, but Wonwoo had already settled his mind.

 

“If I take a day off, people will see it as a sign of weakness.” He added, and instantly Mingyu understood.

 

“Besides, it’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for me.”

 

After everything. Mingyu sighed heavily. He couldn’t help but think greedily, even now of all times.

 

“What was that for?” Wonwoo asked curiously. Mingyu suddenly stiffening with the realization that gigantic sigh was indeed out loud.

 

“I don’t think I’ve heard a sigh that loud in forever.”

 

Mingyu paused. It was fine being greedy in his head, but out loud? And really, now of all times? But Wonwoo mentioning ‘after everything’ was an instant throw back. To summer, to hanging out in the park. To New Year’s Eve. Finally he managed to put some words into motion.

 

“No it’s nothing just-” He gulped, feeling a little defeated that he had to now finish what he started.

 

“You said ‘after everything’ and it made me think of summer, you know?”

 

Wonwoo remained quiet.

 

“I know you meant ‘everything’ today but when I think of you I don’t just think about today. I think of all the times.”

 

Wonwoo closed his mouth. Listening intently, Mingyu looked over to him. He wasn’t even sure if he was listening, or if he even wanted to hear it. But he had to continue. Mingyu’s hands moved back to the wheel. Gripping it tightly as a way to try and calm his nerves, he chewed on his bottom lip.

 

“I really liked you back then, you know?”

 

Having finally admitted it, Mingyu managed to loosen his grip on the wheel despite the silence from Wonwoo not being very bearable right now. It took a moment, which felt way longer than Mingyu ever could’ve dreamed a moment could’ve felt like.

 

“Liked, huh? Past tense?” Wonwoo commented, making Mingyu look over in confusion. Wonwoo seemed surprisingly calm, all things considered. It made Mingyu stutter over his words.

 

“Y-Yeah well. You said- When you first moved to my school, you said the kiss didn’t mean anything, so I just-” He rambled on loudly, voice getting more alarmed with each passing moment as he definitely wasn’t in control of what was coming out of his mouth right now.

 

“Actually-” that single word managed to stop him in his tracks. Mingyu freezing in his spot with only enough momentum going to look over to Wonwoo; who was already staring straight back at him.

 

“If I remember correctly, my exact words were ‘it didn’t have to mean anything.’”

 

Of course. How could Mingyu have been such a fool for this long? It had been almost six months of Mingyu trying to forget about Wonwoo, to Mingyu trying to get over Wonwoo, now to Mingyu obsessing over Wonwoo. And all this time Wonwoo had known.

 

God he could do two things right now. He could slap Wonwoo for making him chase him like a dog for so long. Or he could kiss him. Kiss him and let all of those worries finally fade out because it would mean that all this time had finally meant something. And he did just that.

 

Silently closing the gap between them, Mingyu held his breath. Wonwoo didn’t move an inch, letting the taller boy do all the work until their lips met. Quiet, peaceful. It wasn’t a time for lust or excess passion, this kiss was about confirmation. It was light and short, Mingyu’s lips pressing against Wonwoo’s, who retaliated by curving a smile into it. It was perfect. Mingyu pressing in slightly more as if he was trying to remember every millimeter of Wonwoo’s lips before backing off, finally opening his eyes to look up to Wonwoo as he moved back to his position in the car.

 

“Ow.” Wonwoo huffed a laugh, reaching up to hold his bruised nose again, it instantly made Mingyu laugh too.

 

“I’m sorry.” He lightly replied, knowing that Wonwoo would be okay with the brief moment of pain from the kiss. The two of them continued to stare at each other for a few minutes. Finally the mutual feelings between the two of them reflecting, and Mingyu could feel it. Wonwoo really liked him too.

 

“So... Are you going to go now?” Wonwoo’s words finally broke that dream like feeling Mingyu was experiencing right now. Both of them unable to stop smiling, although Wonwoo tried as smiling too much was beginning to seriously hurt his face.

 

“What- oh... yeah.” Mingyu said. Finally opening the car door, the action was mimicked by Wonwoo too. The two of them now stood on opposite sides of the side, looking over the roof at each other.

 

“Guess I’ll... see you tomorrow?” Mingyu wanted to confirm. Earning a small nod from Wonwoo.

 

“I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

 

“Great, so I’ll... See you then.”

 

The awkward ending didn’t damage the feeling Mingyu was going through right now. Smiling like an idiot as he turned to walk down the road, the half an hour walk to his grandma’s home seemed to pass smoothly. The entire walk Mingyu fighting the urge to take his phone out and message Wonwoo already.

 

Of course his grandma was surprised, Mingyu managing to explain how ‘the guy he met in the supermarket that one time now went to his school and got into a fight today. So Mingyu drove him home, but it meant he left his car at the school. So now supermarket boy was going to pick him up in the morning.’ The story making his grandma beam with pride, with of course Mingyu leaving out some of the key details. Wonwoo liked him back. And they just kissed. For the second time. And it was perfect.

 

Later that night he climbed into the spare bed his grandma kept for him during the summer. Padded with a few extra blankets, Mingyu had managed to text the group chat about what had happened at school today. Seungcheol explaining that Daniel then went on to kick over three trash cans before being caught from the vice principal and being given detention for two weeks. They didn’t even ask how Wonwoo was. But Mingyu was too sky high to register that just yet.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_In case you forgot, I live a lot longer away from the school than you do. So be ready for 7.30. 9.34pm_

_Mingyu:_   
_Will do : ) : ) 9.35pm_

_Wonwoo:_   
_That’s a pretty optimistic reply to having to wake up so early. Are you sure you’re not the one with a concussion? 9.37pm_

Mingyu laughed to himself before replying.

_Mingyu:_   
_Must be the effect of having good company in the morning, for once! 9.37pm_

_Wonwoo:_   
_That’s sweet. And lame. Get an early night, Mingyu~ See you tomorrow. 9.39pm_

Maybe for the first time in a while, Mingyu had no trouble falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow sorry about going MIA, school got busy. To make up for it I'll do my best to upload a chapter a day for a week!  
> Enjoy~


	14. Chapter 14

Despite getting an early night for once in his life, Mingyu still woke up with burning eyes the next morning. Six in the morning was far too early for a boy who had spent his entire high school life waking up thirty minutes before leaving for school. It would be ten if he didn’t choose to shower in the morning. Each time he would convince himself he could just shower for less time and get more sleep, but it never worked out that way without making him late. It was now 7.20am and Mingyu was one long blink away from falling back asleep whilst waiting for Wonwoo.

 

But to be fair, if he did go back to sleep, there would be one thing he would be dreaming of. It didn’t matter that the kiss they shared yesterday was maybe five seconds long, to Mingyu is was perfect. In fact it was better than the first kiss they shared, Mingyu thought. Except maybe the circumstances on that day were better.

 

_**July 17th. Summer vacation** _

  
It was only three days ago that Wonwoo had told Mingyu when his birthday was. So it was only three days ago that Mingyu was in sheer panic trying to figure out what to get him for his birthday. It was crazy, really. Mingyu didn’t even buy his friends presents half the time on their birthdays. Except maybe Soonyoung, but that was because he was easy; just buy him a new console game and the short, frizzy haired boy was happy. But the point was; if Mingyu wanted to buy his friends a present, he knew what to get them. But Wonwoo? He had no idea.

 

Sure he liked to read... but what? And what had he read before? What genre did he like? Did Mingyu even know what different kinds of book genres existed outside whatever he had to read at school? Probably not. So that was out of the running. Wonwoo liked world culture too; did that mean Mingyu should buy him a globe? He really was putting too much thought into this. And it showed as it was now already Wonwoo’s birthday and he had nothing prepared.

 

Mingyu had actually argued with him yesterday. That it was important to spend your birthday with friends and family. Wonwoo’s rebuttal to that was ‘I’ve already spent seventeen birthdays with my family and I have no other friends in this town except you.’ ...It was safe to say Mingyu had been put in his place. So now Mingyu was on his way to the park again where they always met this summer.

 

He tried to slow his walking down, honestly he did. But the mix of anxiety of not being prepared and the excitement of seeing Wonwoo again was terrible and it definitely made him speed up more than he wanted to, his eyes searching every shop on the way until...

 

“Perfect.” He muttered. Stopped squarely outside a cake shop, Mingyu looked into the window. Everyone needed a cake on their birthday, right? Blow out the candle, make a wish. That was a super important birthday tradition and finally Mingyu saw it as the perfect last-minute present to get Wonwoo.

 

He walked in, all the confidence in he world that a seventeen-year-old boy should have. Walking straight up to the counter in pure naivety.

 

“I need a birthday cake.” He said. Little did he know how cake shops work.

 

“When for, sir?” They asked. Mingyu cocked his head. That was a stupid question, he thought.

 

“Uh, today? Like, now actually, so if you can just give me one-” He continued.

 

“We need at least seventy-two hours' notice before making a cake, sir. We have to bake from scratch and decorate it.”

 

Mingyu’s panic hit his face again.

 

“What do you have now that I can buy?” He questioned again.

 

The store worker turned to a collection of cakes on display by the side of the counter.

 

“We have these.” They stated plainly. Mingyu feeling the surge of optimism hitting him again as he glanced over the cakes. “They start from $75.”

 

Well that didn’t last long.

 

Mingyu delved into his pockets, being an unemployed high school student didn’t really bode well for him at the moment, but it was better than nothing. Pulling out whatever change he had, he held it up to the counter.

 

“What do you have for this?”

 

It took the store worker a moment to get over the fact that this kid was so desperate that he was handing him loose change and spare notes he had in his pockets. Finally they went over to a display of cupcakes which were all very neatly racked on top of one another. He opened the case and picked out a single one before placing it on the counter in front of Mingyu.

 

“...Does it come with a candle?”

 

Somehow Mingyu had managed to convince the seller to also supply a candle and a box of matches alongside the cupcake for no more than maybe $13 and a few cents. Maybe it was the desperate tone of his voice which did it, but all that mattered now to Mingyu was getting to the park to meet Wonwoo as fast as possible.

 

He was in the usual spot, under a giant oak tree, hiding from the sun. There had been multiple times Mingyu had joked about Wonwoo being a vampire, even comparing him to characters from Twilight who shared his love of reading books and distaste for the sun. Wonwoo naturally protested against that, but Mingyu had a feeling he knew just a bit too much about Twilight not to call it a guilty pleasure.

 

“So I got you a present.” Mingyu finally broke, not being able to keep it a secret anymore. Wonwoo smiled through the shock.

 

“You’ve known me at most six weeks.” He almost spluttered. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

 

“Yeah, well. It’s too late for that now.” Mingyu sheepishly responded. Pulling out a single encased cupcake from his backpack Wonwoo had to hold back his laughter. It was sweet that Mingyu had put any thought into this at all, but Wonwoo could also tell it was super last minute.

 

“Sorry it’s not much. Who would’ve thought cakes take three days to make!” He laughed, searching his bag for the matches he pulled them out and attempted to light one.

 

“Just a- second- almost got it.” He muttered under his breath several times. Each time he would strike the matchstick against the box nothing seemed to happen.

 

‘Stupid shopkeeper sold me dodgy matchsticks!’ He cursed in his head.

 

“Here, let me.” Wonwoo offered, reaching over to take the matchstick and box from his hands. Mingyu paused instantly, letting Wonwoo’s fingers encase his own before peeling the equipment away from him. His heart beating twice as fast in that moment than usual; it took Wonwoo no more than three attempts to light the match, smirking in victory before passing it back to Mingyu. He didn’t want to steal the entire moment.

 

“Thanks.” Mingyu smiled. Putting the flame to the candle to light it, he shook his hand to extinguish the flame before lifting the mini cake up to Wonwoo’s level.

 

“Make a wish.”

 

Wonwoo obliged. Closing his eyes for what seemed like forever to Mingyu, he watched over the birthday boy in awe. Finally Wonwoo opened his eyes and blew out the candle.

 

“What did you wish for?” Mingyu didn’t hesitate in asking, making Wonwoo choke out a laugh.

 

“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose? If you tell someone your wish then it won’t come true.”

 

“You’ve literally complained to me before about vampires not being able to go out in the sun otherwise they’ll die being the worst superstition you’ve ever heard before. You can’t tell me you believe sharing your wish won’t make it come true.” Wonwoo was almost speechless. Mingyu had really paid attention to him over these past six weeks and it caused him to feel flustered in that moment.

 

“Alright, fine.” Wonwoo coughed. He tried to prepare himself. Sitting up straighter in front of Mingyu, who suddenly felt a pang of nervousness hit his chest; why did he want to know what Wonwoo had wished for so badly in the first place?

 

“I wished... for a birthday kiss.” Wonwoo finished. Mingyu not having the best first reaction to that as it didn’t immediately hit him who Wonwoo was talking about.

 

“From who? Your mom?” He laughed, only to catch the reflection of Wonwoo’s face to that comment, Mingyu quickly gulping down his laughter. Suddenly even the shade felt very hot, Mingyu’s palms becoming sweaty and his hair on his neck stood up.

 

“Oh- Oh you mean...” His voice got slower each passing second he was coming to the realization. Mingyu finally sat up straight himself.

 

“Looks like you better make another wish because um- well you see I’ve never-” He was about to say ‘I’ve never kissed a boy before’ but Wonwoo interrupted him with his own rambling thoughts.

 

“No, you’re right. It was a stupid wish. Besides, it won’t come true now- now that I’ve said it.” He shook his head. Mingyu feeling his heart shatter into a million pieces. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, he was just so afraid. What did it mean? If he kissed him, would there be any going back? Wonwoo’s hands fumbled for the matchbox again, lighting another match unsteadily before raising it to the cupcake that Mingyu still held before them.

 

God Wonwoo wished he could just disintegrate into dust right now. Maybe Mingyu was right... if he did go into the sun he would burn up like the vampire they joked he was. But instead Wonwoo just closed his eyes. He closed them so tightly in the hope that when he opened them again Mingyu wouldn’t be there and he could forget this ever happened.

 

Mingyu stared again. He stared at how tightly the corners of Wonwoo’s eyes were wrinkling in an attempt not to open them. He saw a frown line on his forehead straining to try and remove itself so Wonwoo could pretend he wasn’t bothered about what just happened. Mingyu just stared. Before realizing it Mingyu slowly put the cupcake down, making sure it was far away enough on the grass that neither of them would get accidently burned by it if there were any sudden movements. He leaned forward, praying that Wonwoo would keep his eyes closed for just a moment longer than it took for Mingyu to reach his lips and finally kiss him. It was short. Nothing much more than a peck. Mingyu being so uncertain that Wonwoo even wanted it anymore that he didn’t want to stay too long and make the entire situation unsalvagable, but the moment he kissed him he felt like he didn’t want to pull away either. But he did. Returning to his previous position, Wonwoo’s eyes had shot open the moment the pressure was removed from him. Staring at Mingyu with blank eyes.

 

“So... What was your second wish?” Mingyu managed break out.

 

Wonwoo gulped. “Same as the first.”

 

* * *

 

The loud annoyance of a car beeping outside brought Mingyu back into the realm of the living. Realizing quickly that the loud beeping was for him he jumped to his feet and headed out the door. Surely enough Wonwoo was there, a scarf pulled up to his chin and gloves gripping the wheel while he waited. Suddenly the nerves returned.

 

“Good morning.” Wonwoo greeted as Mingyu climbed into the car. His words were met with no response. It didn’t seem to faze Wonwoo who then started to drive to school, and it took a couple of minutes for Mingyu to think of anything to say.

 

Because really, what was the protocol after you just admitted you liked someone? Mingyu had never had to do that before. All the girlfriends he had ever had confessed to him first. Mingyu simply saying ‘oh yeah, I feel the same. Let’s date’ like an automated response before gently letting the girl down weeks later had become the only sort of romantic method he had known. He really wasn’t the Casanova that the whole school thought he was; but also Wonwoo already knew that. So maybe... the pressure to ‘be something’ wasn’t so bad after all.

 

“What did your parents say?” Mingyu asked, Wonwoo looking confused for a moment about the topic of conversation before he remembered.

 

“Nothing I uh-” Wonwoo replied almost with shyness hinging in his voice. “I told them I got hit in the face with a dodgeball.” He managed to laugh a little at the end, knowing how idiotic that excuse sounded. And Mingyu agreed. The pair of them laughing off any tension quickly and soon the entire car ride become a lot easier.

 

Pulling up to the school, Wonwoo pulled into an empty parking space. Laughter dying down from some joke Mingyu had made moments earlier he turned to Wonwoo to thank him.

 

“You’re kidding, right?” Wonwoo blinked a few times. “If you didn’t step in, I think I would’ve been left on the floor overnight in this place.” Mingyu suddenly furrowed his eyebrows.

 

“Yeah but I could’ve stepped in sooner. It was just when he said he knew I-” Wonwoo’s hand suddenly shot over to Mingyu’s. A volt of electricity between them Mingyu instantly shut up and listened.

 

“It’s fine, I get it.” Wonwoo’s tone was incredibly soothing to hear right now. How was he always able to do that? Diffuse any negative feeling that Mingyu had? Wonwoo tightened his grip a little on Mingyu’s hand before letting go.

 

“It’s hard to... come out when you’re in high school. Especially when you’re in high school.” He chuckled. Mingyu’s head was dizzy. ‘Come out’? Yeah he knew what that meant but... did liking one guy mean he was gay? That was definitely something he had never thought about before.

 

“We don’t have to do anything about this until you figure it out.” Once again it was like Wonwoo could read Mingyu’s mind, leaving Mingyu speechless and staring at Wonwoo in some sort of admiration.

 

“...Are you wearing make-up?” Mingyu suddenly broke. Wonwoo’s eyes widening as he moved back to pull his scarf up to his face.

 

“No.” Wonwoo’s tone rang out with lies. Mingyu smirked, leaning forward to gently press a finger underneath Wonwoo’s eye to test out the covered spot he thought he saw, Wonwoo winced but Mingyu felt that was more of an embarrassed reaction than a painful one.

 

“You are!” He laughed, rubbing his finger and thumb together. “You’re totally wearing concealer!” Wonwoo seemed to reclined deeper into his chair as Mingyu continued to lord over him.

 

“I thought you looked better than expected! Did you steal it from your mom-”

 

“I just didn’t want to look bad, okay?” Wonwoo managed to chuckle back, pushing Mingyu towards the car door to signal him to exit first. Mingyu taking that sign to open the door and climb out.

 

“See ya later.” He said before grabbing his bag and walking off towards the school.

 

It took maybe twenty feet for Mingyu to be stopped. By no one other than his group of friends who were staring at him in a questioning manner.

 

“What the fuck what that about?” Jihoon asked with clearness. Mingyu instantly defensive.

 

“What was what about?”

 

“That. In the car. With him.” Seungcheol answered. Realizing he was being tag teamed by his friends, Mingyu stood up taller, with confidence and purpose.

 

“What about him? I told you yesterday, I drove him home. I left my car here, so he offered to pick me up this morning.” It was the total truth, once again just not all of it. No one needed to know those details except for Mingyu and Wonwoo.

 

“Yeah, that wasn’t all that looked like.” Seunghcheol scoffed. The tone made Mingyu stand up taller once more, knowing that being challenged in such a way was all about how you carried and asserted yourself back to them.

 

“You two friends now?” Soonyoung asked. His tone was not the same as the others. He sounded unsure, almost sad even.

 

“You could say that.” Mingyu answered with no delay, making everyone hawk eye him once more.

 

“We’ve hung out a few times. He helped tutor me, he’s okay.”

 

“That’s all he should be, too.” Seungcheol almost hissed under his breath. Finally Mingyu had had enough.

 

“If you’ve got something to say to me-” He began to snap, but Seungcheol talked louder.

 

“There’s rumors, Gyu.” It was almost like he was announcing it to Mingyu, who now stood with fear in his chest instead of confidence.

 

“About him. And if you’re going to be seen with him, then there’ll be rumors about you too.”

It half sounded like a threat, but something in Mingyu told him it wasn’t. Seungcheol thought he was doing the right thing now.

 

“Just be careful, captain.” Seungcheol finally bridged the gap between himself and his friend, wrapping an arm over Mingyu’s shoulder despite being taller in an uncomfortable manner. He was pulling Mingyu away from the parking lot and towards the school.

 

“Maybe you should hang out with some girls to put an end to anything. Before it starts.” 


	15. Chapter 15

Those words stuck with Mingyu for the next few weeks. Drawing attention to yourself in high school was either insanely good or horrifically bad. And liking a person of the same sex... tended to be the latter. Mingyu saw it; how the boys avoided a certain someone in the locker roo during gym class. How the girls would tease others for having short hair. Even though that meant nothing to a person’s sexuality it was enough for high school students to focus their bullying on until they either got bored or the person moved school. And yes, the bullying did often get that bad. Mingyu and his friends had always been above that. Little did Mingyu know it was because he was seen as ‘untouchable’; his prowess from freshman year succeeding him in becoming wrapped up in people like that. Mingyu didn’t know that his friends seem to play a big part in that too. With or without knowing it, his friends were good at scaring ‘unwanted’ people away. Often it was the case when people came with bad news, or they were a ‘social risk’ to their popularity. Mingyu honestly didn’t think that deeply about it.

 

But right now it was just that at work; sort of protection, the boys made a whole schedule of plans to celebrate ‘their last year together’, which included partying through winter break too. Mingyu apologizing over and over again to Wonwoo for not answering his texts until hours later, but he never seemed to mind. ‘Winter break has been pretty crazy’ he would say ‘Seungcheol just keeps inviting me to these parties, I don’t even know where he finds out about them!’

 

But it was safe to say that the entire time all Mingyu could do was think about Wonwoo. At first it wasn’t too obvious that Mingyu was distracted. He still had fun, more so than the average person because being 6’ tall and built to match really meant that he could hold his alcohol better than even some of the older people at the party. Sure being seventeen and drinking wasn’t good for his body, but it was winter break and everyone did keep saying ‘you need to practice for college’. But before he knew it they were back at school, regular football practice starting again and once again exams were approaching in the coming months. And Mingyu’s birthday was two months away.

 

“You’re going to be eighteen!” Soonyoung exclaimed, trying his best to wrap an arm around his best friend at the lunch table. Despite being incredibly shorter than him, he did a decent job of it.

 

“Yeah, but it’s two months away, why do I need to plan a party now?”

 

“Because you’re only eighteen once, bro.” Seungcheol smirked, biting into the last of his lunch.

 

“You gotta do it right! And the only way to do it right is to plan in advance.”

 

“Come on, this is going to be the biggest birthday of the year.” Jihoon added. Mingyu giving up with a smile and a sigh. They were right after all.

 

“Awesome! Minghao, does your dad still do events management? Can he find Mingyu a place?” Seunghceol naively asked his friend, Minghao having to stop himself from rolling his eyes at such a question, Mingyu holding in a laugh as he caught that reaction.

 

“My dad finds banquet halls for upper middle-class businessmen and companies. Not eighteen-year-old's wanting to puke their guts out at the back of a bowling alley.”

 

“THAT’S IT, A BOWLING ALLEY!” Soonyoung slammed his fist onto the table.

 

“That’s not what I meant-” Minghao tried to salvage, but it was already too late. One track minded Soonyoung was on a roll.

 

“We hire an entire bowling alley! I’ve seen college guys do it before, it’s easy! You just call-”

 

“And with what money?” Mingyu interrupted, bringing his now pouty best friend to a standstill.

 

“You forget we’re high school students with no jobs.”

 

“I mean, I could help you there.” Seungcheol offered. Mingyu tilted his head towards him. Seungcheol was from money. So was Jihoon, except Seungcheol was a lot quieter about it. It wasn’t often that he offered to help out a friend, so Mingyu was taken by surprise when it finally happened to him.

 

“Just look at it like my gift to you.”

 

Seungcheol grinned, shrugging his shoulders a little too.

 

“And my open invitation, too.”

 

Mingyu couldn’t argue against that. Even if he wanted to the ball had already started rolling and his friends were making plans. It was at that moment his phone buzzed, giving him a necessary break from all the noise at the table.

 

_Wonwoo:_   
_Can you be free in 10? 12.23pm_

 

Mingyu looked over the cafeteria. He had only seen Wonwoo this morning during home room and even that brief moment hurt his heart. He had missed Wonwoo so much over winter break. Sure that had only been a week, but Mingyu had been busy the two weeks beforehand too, with his friend’s and practice. And after the kiss and well, whatever was going on between them, Mingyu just really wanted to spend time with him and figure that out.

 

He didn’t see Wonwoo anywhere though. Eyes narrowing back down to the phone resting on his lap.

 

_Mingyu:_   
_Sure, usual place? 12.25pm_

_Wonwoo:_   
_Yeah, see you there. 12.26pm_

 

Mingyu began to finish his lunch, clearing his plate quickly before excusing himself from the table, earning disappointed sighs from his friends who were planning his party.

 

“Sorry guys, update me next time, alright?” He said as he exited.

 

Wonwoo was already waiting for Mingyu by the time he arrived, the February weather still cold enough to bury your hands in your pockets, but it was more bearable than December, that’s for sure. But Wonwoo still probably wanted to make this quick.

 

“Hey.” God here he went again. Unable to say anything else as a greeting when they were inside school. But Mingyu finally swallowed his pride to say something else.

 

“I missed you.”

 

Wonwoo’s eyes softened at that remark. Lips forming a small, thin smile before talking himself.

 

“It’s your birthday in two months?” Wonwoo asked. Wow, word did really spread fast around this school. It was only moments ago he had been talking about itin the cafeteria, how did he know already?

 

“Yeah, actually it’s just before spring break but- We're planning a party during vacation, you should come!” Mingyu was a bit too enthusiastic, but Wonwoo couldn’t help but smile.

 

“I don’t think it’s my type of place.” He politely declined.

 

“Besides, you should celebrate your birthday with your friends.”

 

“According to some wise old words ‘I’ve already spent seventeen birthdays with them before’” Mingyu paraphrased the words Wonwoo had told him during summer about his own birthday. Wonwoo for once becoming flustered as his own memories of that day came rushing back; Mingyu finding is incredibly adorable he see Jeon Wonwoo finally stutter.

 

“Ah, those wise old words.” He managed to cough and change the subject.

 

“You’ve really know your friends seventeen years?”

 

“Not all of them. But Soonyoung, yeah pretty much.”

 

Wonwoo nodded in response.

 

“So... you know each other pretty well then.” Mingyu didn’t know exactly how to take that question.

 

“Yeah I suppose...” He droned a little, giving it some thought. Mingyu really did feel like he knew Soonyoung inside and out but now something was nagging at him. That something was related to Wonwoo. Even though they weren’t ‘a thing’ Mingyu really liked Wonwoo. He could see himself with him, just like he had been with his ex girlfriends except better this time. It was something Mingyu actually wanted and didn’t feel forced into. And that got him thinking... How would Soonyoung react to that? It was an uncomfortable thought. One Mingyu didn’t want to think about right now.

 

“Did you call me out here to quiz me on my best friends?” Mingyu’s voice was light, trying not to take a serious spin on the topic, Wonwoo obliging in the lightness and chuckling a little at himself.

 

“No, of course not.” He answered. There was a long pause before he continued.

 

“It’s after winter break. Are we still studying? If you prefer not, then that’s fine I just needed to know.” Wonwoo was now the one mumbling over his words, Mingyu feeling the nerves radiate onto himself.

 

“Yeah, of course. How about tonight?” Okay maybe that was a little hasty, but Mingyu wasn’t exactly thinking as he said it. And he certainly didn’t expect Wonwoo to answer just as quickly.

 

“Sure.” Came the confirmation. Both boys left staring at each other awkwardly until the cold sunk in enough to make them want to go back inside.

 

“See you tonight?” Wonwoo double confirmed.

 

“Yep.” 

* * *

 

They had been here a thousand times before, so why did it feel so different this time? Of course Mingyu knew the answer to that. All the previous times the tension was unexplained. An underlying infatuation and desire, but now all that was out in the open with both of them knowing how the other feels. How could they just sit there and act like nothing was going on?

 

Wonwoo was doing a terrific job at just that. Sat motionless in his usual spot, at Mingyu’s desk with a science book splayed open at some random page. Wonwoo was the type of guy to take neat notes on a pad at the side of him, so every so often Mingyu would hear little scribbles on the paper. And it was driving him crazy.

 

Every little noise, every little movement. It all seemed to make Mingyu flinch and anything Wonwoo did caught Mingyu’s attention. He fidgeted around on his bed in the meantime, trying to get comfortable. Left...right... Sitting up... Laying down...

 

“Are you okay over there?” Wonwoo finally broke the uncomfortable silence. Making Mingyu instantly sit up with a bit of panic.

 

“What, me? Yeah, why?” Mingyu coughed, pretending to focus extra hard on this page he had had opened for the past twenty minutes.

 

“Because you’ve done nothing but move around for twenty minutes. And don’t think I haven’t noticed you’ve not turned a page in that amount of time too.” Wonwoo spoke without even looking up from his own book. An arm now wrapping around it to angle it better for his eyes in the light.

 

Crap, Mingyu had been caught out.

 

“I just... can’t get comfortable, is all.” Mingyu completely lied. His words made Wonwoo’s eyes finally flicker away from the book long enough to look at Mingyu.

 

“You can’t get comfortable... on your own bed that you’ve slept in for god knows how many years.” Wonwoo’s words were flat and unconvinced. Dammit, was Mingyu really that bad at lying to Wonwoo? Time to try again.

 

“...Yes.”

 

Wonwoo sighed, letting his shoulders drop in relaxation as he look away from his book, stretching his back in an arch as he did so. Why was that so appealing for Mingyu to watch suddenly? Wonwoo craning his head back, muscles down his neck elongating.

 

“Thank god, I thought it was me distracting you.” Wonwoo yawned into his stretch. That sentence catching Mingyu off guard as he straightened his back and looked to Wonwoo’s face.

 

“You? Distracting me?” He scoffed

 

“Why- Why would you? Distract me, hah.” He was still trying to bluff, but Wonwoo had definitely already figured him out. Wonwoo turned on the chair to face the taller boy.

 

“Oh I don’t know, maybe I thought that kiss would.” Wonwoo was half vague, leaning forward a bit as Mingyu leaned back from him.

 

“What kiss.” Mingyu’s voice was flat to stop it from trembling.

 

“The one we had in the car.” Wonwoo smirked fiendishly, knowing fully well he was riling Mingyu up, leaning even more forward as his voice was low enough to only be heard by him. Mingyu’s throat dried up as he found himself unable to push himself further away from Wonwoo despite the fact he was nowhere near the wall just yet.

 

“Or... the one we could be having now.”

 

Oh god. Mingyu was sure he just choked. No air entering his lungs as suddenly his mind was filled with what that kiss could be like. Uncontrolled, passionate, unhinged. He definitely had never wanted something else more than that in the world before. And then Wonwoo completely pulled back to his chair. Facing his book as if nothing just happened.

 

There was silence. Mingyu in utter shock, did Wonwoo really just play him like that? Did he just hallucinate that entire thing? Mingyu managed to push his jaw shut again and push himself to the edge of the bed.

 

“Are you kidding me? All of that and-?”

 

Mingyu couldn’t even finish his sentence he was that astounded by what had just happened, or should he say, never happened. Something absolutely fueled Mingyu in this moment. Causing the boy to stand up next to Wonwoo who was still smirking away as if nothing had happened, but the moment he saw the shadow that smirk soon dropped away.

 

“You’re not getting away with this.” Mingyu managed to exert huskily from his throat. Just seconds before his hand snaked under Wonwoo’s jaw to pull it upwards. Before Wonwoo could even contest to the action Mingyu removed the gap between their mouths by clashing his lips against Wonwoo’s. A kiss unlike the other two they had shared; this time it was heavy and needy.

 

It took no time for Wonwoo to reciprocate, pushing back against Mingyu’s lips to force them open his hands found Mingyu’s chest; using it as a measure to stand up so the two of them were now fully face to face. Mingyu’s hand didn’t drop from Wonwoo’s neck as they deepened the kiss. Every lustful thought he had ever had now seeping out into the kiss as he was desperate for more, using his hand to angle Wonwoo’s jaw he found the other snaking up to his arm to grip him firmly. Wonwoo wasn’t going anywhere. Heavy pants began to mix in with the breaths they exchanged, Wonwoo slowly using the leverage he had on Mingyu’s chest to push him back onto the bed, skinny legs encasing around Mingyu’s thighs as he climbed onto him, still their kiss not breaking not even for a second.

 

It was like the two of them had been waiting for this since summer. Something to unleash all the pent-up feelings they had towards each other, and now there was no stopping them. A small whimpered moan escaping from Mingyu’s throat as Wonwoo shifted his weight on him to get comfortable, making Wonwoo smirk into the kiss.

 

The two of them continued like this for a while. Barely breaking to breathe, it was like each other was all they needed. Hands roaming but still cautious in nature, every so often pressing just hard enough on the right areas to make the other sigh in pleasure. Time passing whilst their lips became chaffed and dry. Somewhere in the middle Wonwoo’s glasses had been removed and Mingyu’s hair had become a ground for Wonwoo’s fingers to run through it, messing up his black locks like he had been tossing and turning in his sleep all night. Eventually the two of them settled down as they lay side by side, facing each other.

 

“I think that one was my favorite.” Wonwoo sighed, letting his eyes rest heavy, knowing he had to leave soon.

 

“What, study session?” Mingyu absentmindedly commented. It gained a long sigh from Wonwoo, making Mingyu realize what he actually meant.

 

“Oh you mean kiss.” He snorted, moving to rest a hand on Wonwoo’s cheek.

 

“Yeah, me too.”


	16. Chapter 16

Spring was definitely coming. The weather was warming up which made Mingyu happy beyond belief. And for seniors that meant one thing; Spring break. Sure spring break wasn’t as amazing as it could be whilst in college. They were age limited, definitely money limited. But still the word had gotten around about Mingyu’s huge party and suddenly now it was going to be the event of the year. Mingyu wanted to be worried about upholding his reputation, but honestly he didn’t have the time.

 

Between studying for finals, organizing football events, trying to make the most of life with his friends (and Wonwoo) Mingyu was pretty much spent. But he still made sure to find time for it all.

 

“So this Weekend game night in Soonyoung’s, and next the party, right?” Mingyu confirmed, checking his phone planner as he spoke. It had really gotten to the point where he had to start scheduling in events and setting reminders for them, otherwise he would definitely forget. Except if those plans involved Wonwoo, of course.

 

They had reached a balance. Wonwoo came over twice a week to study; one time for Science and the other for English. And now only about thirty percent of those times ended up in making out. Wonwoo having had set strict rules for it.

 

‘If you do well in a pop quiz or a class test then you get a kiss.’ He would say ’And I want proof’. Proof often came in the form of Mingyu having to send a picture of his score to Wonwoo, which he would then judge if it was a good enough score or not to be worthy of a kiss.

 

‘Or you get one if I’m bored’ Well that rule was definitely more exciting to Mingyu but it turns out... Wonwoo wasn’t bored that often. Most of the time he was pretty settled, reading a book or highlighting passages whilst sitting at Mingyu’s desk, meanwhile the football stud squirmed uncomfortably without the knowledge of if today was going to be a day if Wonwoo was bored or not. He swore he got a kick out of it. Every so often Mingyu would try to convince him they ‘need a five-minute break’ only for Wonwoo to agree and then use those five minutes to go the bathroom or get some fresh air. Only a handful of those times had resulted in Wonwoo coming back into the room and pouncing on Mingyu unsuspectedly. He would never complain though.

 

In fact, tonight was a night Wonwoo was coming over. Two days before Mingyu’s birthday, where they wouldn’t actually be able to meet because Mingyu was spending it with his friends. Partly against his will. As much as he was looking forward to game night in Soonyoung’s as his birthday plan, he also desperately wanted to see Wonwoo too.

 

“You really happy with just game night?” Jihoon butted in. It was just then that Mingyu realized Seungcheol wasn’t at the table. He looked around quickly, furrowing his brows as he did so.

 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Mingyu replied, totally distracted as he looked over his shoulder.

 

“Where’s Seungcheol?”

 

“He had to go get something from the locker room, he said.” Minghao answered that question, which immediately let Jihoon come back to the first thing.

 

“You don’t want to do something else, or be with someone else on your birthday?”

 

Suddenly Jihoon had his full attention. Did... Jihoon know something? Mingyu was trying his best to keep himself calm, staring straight at Jihoon who in return was smiling cheekily back at him. There was no way he knew... right? They had been careful, Wonwoo said he didn’t tell anybody about them. There was no way...

 

“Like... who?” Mingyu called his bluff.

 

“Like girls, duh.” Jihoon finished, the instant relief washing over Mingyu but he kept a straight face on the outside. Turns out he hadn’t lost his bluffing abilities with everyone. Jihoon sat back at the table they were waiting for Seungcheol at. School was finished, Mingyu had study plans with Wonwoo he was just waiting to catch Seungcheol up with what they were doing this weekend... but there was still no sign of him.

 

“I’m good with games.” Mingyu stretched his back a bit as he replied. Making Jihoon chortle.

 

“You would really rather sit in Soonyoung’s room all day than get your dick wet?” That phrase making Mingyu choke on his spit and Soonyoung laugh out loud.

 

“Yes, actually.” Mingyu retaliated, quickly regaining his composure he learned over the table to Jihoon. “There’s a time and a place for that.” He winked, making Jihoon role his eyes.

 

“Yeah, like the party!” Soonyoung bounced so much it shook the table. “Seungcheol said he’s inviting tons of girls.”

 

“He knows tons of girls?” Minghao laughed, which made Mingyu laugh in return.

 

“Whatever, he better pull through. I’m not leaving high school a virgin.” Soonyoung stuck his nose up at that comment.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Mingyu tried to console his best friend. It didn’t earn him any points, but definitely a glare from him.

 

“Lots of people wait until they’re older.”

 

“Yeah, he can say that. He’s not the one who has to worry about fucking it up with girls when he’s in college.” Jihoon teased, Soonyoung’s glare now making its way to him instead. Once again Mingyu’s attention was pulled away from the conversation. His mind started to think about how to had to go home; Wonwoo would be there soon, and in all honesty he could just text Seungcheol the plans. It was no big deal.

 

Standing up from the table, he excused himself.

 

“Yeah, I’ll catch you guys later I’ve got some studying to do.” His voice sounded like he was already thinking about other things. Mingyu began to walk back through the school to head to the parking lot.

 

It was quiet, most students easily having emptied out a while ago to rush off home or wherever they wanted to go, with only students who were part of clubs sticking behind or those who wanted to study. Turning into the main hallway near the exit, he had finally found Seungcheol. Talking to Wonwoo.

 

To call it talking was probably not the right thing to do. From Mingyu’s point of view it looks like he was confronting Wonwoo over something... or intimidating him. Wonwoo stood against the lockers, eyes locked to the ground in between the small space between him and Mingyu’s friend. His expression was unreadable to Mingyu but it looked something between the lines of him trying not to be intimidated, but also fearing that something was about to happen. On the other hand, Seungcheol looked like he was having the time of his life.

 

Seungcheol’s hand had extended onto the locker next to where Wonwoo stood. Despite Wonwoo being slightly taller than him, he was no match for Seungcheol in a lot of other ways. The smirk on his face contrasted with the lack of one on Wonwoo’s, and that was enough for Mingyu to step back into motion again.

 

“Hey Cheol.” Mingyu made sure his voice was loud enough to be heard from a distance as he approached. Taking confident steps, Mingyu almost looked like a different person whenever he had to take charge. It was part of being captain, he was definitely able to take control of things when he needed to. The loud words worked, Seungcheol turning his attention away from Wonwoo to look up at his friend. That smirk didn’t slip an inch, nor did the hand move away from the locker instantly. Seungcheol clearly wanted control of this situation.

 

“I’ve been looking for you.” Mingyu tried to dismiss the tension from the current situation, Seungcheol acknowledging that Mingyu had the upper hand in this as he finally backed away from Wonwoo. The boy still not looking up from the floor.

 

“Game night this weekend. Party, next. We got a few more things to set up, so. Check the group chat.” Mingyu spoke to clearly, not to give any direction into any other type of conversation right now. Once again Seungcheol followed those guidelines. For the split second Wonwoo looked up to Mingyu, who at the time wasn’t focusing on him back. This was between Seungcheol and Mingyu right now.

 

“Of course captain.” He nodded, for the moment Mingyu thought that would be the end but Seungcheol’s final actions showed that he was still in the game.

 

He turned back to Wonwoo, he immediately returned his eyes to the ground and finally Mingyu looked at him. Seungcheol patted Wonwoo firmly on the back, making the boy’s body shake due to the strength of it.

 

“Catch ya later.” Seungcheol whispered to Wonwoo before confidently striding up to Mingyu.

 

“See you this weekend.” He performed the same action on Mingyu, a heavy pat on the back as if he was trying to reassure him everything was perfectly fine. Mingyu didn’t move a muscle until Seungcheol was long out of the hallway.

 

“Are you okay?” He asked Wonwoo gently. Taking a step closer he heard Wonwoo breathe a deep sigh before answering.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

“What was that about?” Mingyu probed. Wonwoo looked up to Mingyu, but once again his expression was unreadable.

 

“Nothing. He just wanted to talk.” Mingyu knew that was a lie. He wanted to dig deeper, he wanted to get mad that Wonwoo just lied to him but instead he thought about all those times Wonwoo had taken a step back with himself and let Mingyu take his time to tell the truth. He followed suit.

 

“Are you still coming over tonight?”

 

Wonwoo looked like he had forgotten that plan for a split second, but nevertheless he answered calmly.

 

“Of course.” Even though Mingyu still felt completely uncertain about what had just taken place between Wonwoo and Seungcheol those words were like a relief to him. The two of them taking their time before leaving the building, making their way to separate cars before heading to Mingyu’s home once more.

 

Mingyu knew that the tone for the night was not going to involve making out. But what he didn’t expect was for Wonwoo to be completely stiff and untalkative the whole time.

 

“So question number three” Mingyu tried to break the silence with the only way he knew how.

 

“Is it asking me for the speed or velocity formula?”

 

Wonwoo didn’t answer.

 

“Wonwoo.” Mingyu said. Sitting up and practically staring at Wonwoo who didn’t budge at all.

 

“Wonwoo!” Finally that was enough to make him snap out of whatever trance he was in.

 

“Is something wrong?” Mingyu softened his voice. Watching as Wonwoo pushed his glasses up with one hand to rub his tired eyes before he answered.

 

“No, I’m just tired.”

 

“We can take a break if you-”

 

“No.” Wonwoo interjected. Mingyu sighed.

 

“If something happened today. Between you and Seungcheol-”

 

“I already told you! Nothing happened! We just talked.” Wonwoo burst. Mingyu stared at Wonwoo, who was still refusing to look at him by this point. Mingyu was tense. Not because Wonwoo was still lying to him, but because he was concerned. Concerned as to why as Wonwoo lying. What was he hiding? Mingyu didn’t have the patience to ride out the silence until he answered, and knowing Wonwoo he would probably never answer him either.

 

“Look Seungcheol doesn’t do talks.” Mingyu said firmly. It made Wonwoo’s eye flicker back down to his book, wishing he could just escape back into it.

 

“If it’s said something to you, or done something then tell me. I’m his friend, I’ll-”

 

“Yeah, you are.” The snide remark escaped Wonwoo’s mouth, shocking Mingyu into silence. Wonwoo finally closed his book, turning towards his bag near Mingyu’s bed he put the book into it. Mingyu watching in astonishment. Was he leaving because of this?

 

“Look I’m just tired. And stressed.” Wonwoo began to complain. Fixing his books into his bag without looking up he quickly prepared his belongings.

 

“Finals are in a month, and I have AP exams to take. I just don’t know if I should be tutoring you now if I can’t even take care of myself.”

 

Wonwoo’s words almost felt like a physical attack on Mingyu. Although there was nothing personal in what he said, Mingyu couldn’t help but take it that way. Thinking this was all related to Seungcheol and Wonwoo wouldn’t let him help with any of it. He felt helpless. Wonwoo stood up straight. His features looking heavy like he was carrying the weight of the world, Mingyu stood up too.

 

“Is this your way of saying you don’t want to see me anymore?” It was amazing Mingyu’s voice didn’t crack as he spoke. The sadness pouring out and he could tell it hit Wonwoo hard by the way his head shot up to look at him.

 

“No, not at all.” Wonwoo answered just as softly. The two exchanging a solemn silence before Mingyu took a step closer to Wonwoo, prompting him to speak.

 

“Maybe let’s rest a week. Then how about you come to mine? We can study there.” It was an offering which didn’t make a lot of sense logistically wise, but Mingyu was just as desperate as Wonwoo right now.

 

“Of course.” He tried to smile. Trying to lighten the mood, to not let this end of a bad note.

 

“If there was something wrong... You would tell me, right?” Mingyu asked. Wonwoo looking straight up to him, taking a moment to process that request.

 

“Of course.” He copied Mingyu’s words. Leaning in to kiss his cheek before exiting from the room.

 

The rest of the night Mingyu spent bouncing from the group chat to staring at the messages he had with Wonwoo.

 

Should he text him? Was that bothering him too much? He hated knowing that Wonwoo left on a bad note, but Mingyu couldn’t think of any way to fix it. Tapping his finger on the edge of his phone he received another text.

 

_Unknown:_   
_Do you have a date to prom yet? 8.57pm_

Mingyu stared at the message.

_Mingyu:_   
_Who’s this? 8.58pm_

_Unknown:_   
_Sorry! It’s Kelly! From home room : ) Seungcheol gave me your number. 8.58pm_

Mingyu once again stared. Seungcheol did?

_Kelly:_   
_He said you’re looking for a date to prom : ) 8.59pm_

 

Seungcheol. Mingyu was sure he had good intentions, but now really was not the best time. And honestly Mingyu hadn’t even thought past his party next weekend, never mind prom! Seeing messages pop up in the group chat, all meaning nothing to him right now as his friends discussed party plans without him, Mingyu replied.

 

_Mingyu:_   
_Haven’t thought about it honestly. 9.01pm_

_Mingyu:_   
_I wasn’t thinking past finals really. I’ll let you know, though Kelly. See you in class : ) 9.02pm_

 

Putting his phone down, he wanted to be finished for the night. Finals were in five weeks, prom was in eight. Thinking about his phone schedule planner it was already overwhelmingly full right up until the week of finals, including the regional championship football final which of course Mingyu was the star player everyone was looking forward to seeing take home the win. But suddenly none of it mattered. He just wanted finals to be over, for his stupid birthday party to be over. But if that was over... What would happen to him and Wonwoo?


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haaaaa wow I'm sorry I got distracted by real life too much! Let me finish updating this!  
> I apologize for any mistakes in future chapter because I'm not proof reading, just updating lol

Mingyu’s birthday had come and gone. He felt no different. Turning eighteen really was not as glamorous or freeing as many people made it seem. He was still a high school student. He still had final exams to take and he was no closer to getting out of school than the rest of his peers. But it was nice. He was the last to turn eighteen out of his friends but according to them he had lived his life the fullest out of all of them. If they only knew.

That weekend was spent with his closest friends, in Soonyoung’s home playing a variation of console video games from the retro to the brand new. Also completed with board games. Soonyoung wasn’t picky, he loved games of all kinds. It was the perfect distraction. The stress of finals melting away, all weekend he laughed and snacked on junk food. It was the first time in a while he felt like the old Mingyu. The Mingyu who engaged his friends with stories of things he never actually did. Who lived up to everything his friends thought and more. The weekend was spent discussing how amazing his party was going to be. And for the first time Mingyu was actually looking forward to it.

“This Friday at eight!” It had the whole school gossiping. It was an open invitation and people were inviting more and more each day. Mingyu didn’t see it as getting out of hand, in fact he reveled in it. He was feeling back on form after a weekend with his best friends and there was nothing he couldn’t take on.

And it helped that prom season was just adding to that.

“Have you got a date yet?” He must have been asked at least three times a day. Each time he gave the same uncertain answer. “Not yet.” In all honesty he was hoping he could postpone every single offer he received for just long enough to go to prom stag. He wasn’t worried about how it would make him look, but his friends were definitely not pleased by the idea.

“You need a queen!” Soonyoung exclaimed. Really he made prom sound so much better than it was going to be. The quintet were walking towards the school building, the day before Mingyu’s party.

“Seriously, my party’s this weekend, guys!” Mingyu laughed off. “Make up your mind, what do you want to focus on first?” He teased towards his best friend.

“He’s right though, captain.” Seungcheol backed up the smaller friend’s point. “A king without a queen is just sad.”

“You don’t even know if I’m going to win.” Mingyu simply said that for the sake of sounding modest. All of his friends knew, so that’s why they instantly laughed at him.

“Please. Over half the school, if not all, have voted for you.” Minghao said “You didn’t even need to campaign!” It was met with agreeing sounds from the rest. Mingyu walked with a huge smile on his face. It really was that easy, sometimes.

“Maybe I want to go stag.” He mused out loud. It nearly made his friends stop in their tracks. “You know? Be a trendsetter. Start a new wave of solo kings and queens.” Surely everyone took that as a joke.

“You’re kidding, right?” Seungcheol questioned. “It’s a whole rite of passage!”

Mingyu just scoffed at it. “But I’ve dated so many girls at this school already.” He continued. “If I would’ve wanted to go to prom with one of them, I would’ve asked by now.”

But his friends were not deterred. “Maybe you just haven’t asked the right one yet!” Soonyoung added.

“Or maybe they haven’t asked you.” Jihoon said. Again Mingyu just scoffed at it. Everyone was totally aware of how often girls were asking him to prom, totally opposite of the usual method of where the boys ask the girls.

“You don’t know of the implications, captain!” Seungcheol swung an arm over Mingyu as he spoke. “Sure it’s well and good to be popular, to be football captain. But if you go to prom alone? It’s like social suicide.”

“No offence.” Seungcheol said, turning to look at Soonyoung.

“Hey!” Soonyoung bit back quickly. “I have a date, actually.”

“See!” Jihoon seemed to explain even louder than the rest. “Even Soonyoung has a date!”

Mingyu just continued to laugh it off. They really were like a dog with a bone sometimes. “We’ll talk about it after guys. Like after the party or something. Or after prom itself. See how I feel.” He rambled off as he took larger steps to gain distance from his friends. Their complaining getting quieter as Mingyu chuckled to himself before heading to class.

Science class. Finally Mingyu could feel confident in it. It was all thanks to Wonwoo. That name making his chest hurt again. It had been days since they spoke. Since Wonwoo came to Mingyu’s... Since that ‘talk’ happened with Seungcheol. Since he said he was stressed. Mingyu wanted to give him space. But that was hurting him so much that even seeing him in home room that morning had given him a weird satisfaction to know he was somehow still okay with being in the same room as himself, but also made him incredibly nervous. Did Wonwoo not want to be with him anymore?

They weren’t even ‘together’. In fact, no one even knew they were ‘close friends’ never mind... whatever they were doing. What did you call a guy that you kissed during study sessions, but you had never been out on a date with before? Mingyu would be damned if he knew the answer. Finally the bell rang for class to start. Mingyu thought he would be sat alone at the science desk until someone else came sliding up next to him.

“Hey Mingyu!” She beamed. Her name was Jessica, and Mingyu knew her pretty well. She was a cheerleader, friends with a lot of girls. But of course Mingyu knew all the cheerleaders and had dated one or two of them. ‘Dated’.

“Hey Jess.” He smiled back. Turning to whatever page the teacher had written on the board he tried to focus on his book, but Jess’ eyes burrowing into him really wasn’t helping him concentrate. He looked back up to her.

“Have you got a date to prom yet?” She asked, super smiley to the point where Mingyu felt confused by it. Sure she was like that in the field, but that was when she was cheerleading. It was just as much as an act as Mingyu whenever he lied... Maybe she carried that personality around with her too.

“Not yet.” He repeated those infamous words. Picking up his pen he began to take notes.

“You should go with me then.” She half whispered so the teacher wouldn’t hear. Mingyu instantly stopped writing to look at her.

“Well you know, a lot of other girls have asked...” He trailed off, hoping she would get the message. But Jess was... seemingly very persistent today.

“Yeah but those other girls aren’t me.” It was almost like she was boasting. Well she wasn’t exactly wrong...

“I really admire your confidence Jess-” He began to let her down lightly, but once again her cheerful tone took over.

“Well if you admire it that much you’ll take me to prom!” Her voice low but happy, still trying not to be caught by the teacher for talking. “Come on.” She moved over to nudge him a bit. “Think about how good we’ll look. Captain of the football team and a cheerleader. King and queen.”

Mingyu honestly did think about it. It was what all of his friends were saying. He needed a queen. But before he could even say yes or no to that, Jess had made his mind up for him.

“You can pick me up at six.” She continued, leaning over him with her own pen she began to write her address and phone number on his open page. Mingyu was literally gob smacked. Did he just get tricked into going to prom with her somehow? It was all happening so fast.

Jessica smirked, shrugging her shoulders like it was no big deal before leaning back over her own book.

“See you then?” Although it sounded like a question it was very far from it.

The rest of class passed uneventfully after being basically ambushed into going to prom. In fact the two of them barely spoke until the time came to ‘discuss with your partner the pros and cons of using radioactive dating on fossils.’ Which Jess used this time to sneak in some prom questions to Mingyu. ‘What color suit are you wearing? Should we color coordinate?’ These were the types of questions Mingyu didn’t want to think about, but now he was forced to comply. Finally class ended and he was free to leave. Jess of course reminding him ‘at six’ before he did.

It took all of thirty seconds for Mingyu to get his first text about it.

_Soonyoung:_   
_YOU HAVE A DATE????? 10.21am_

_Soonyoung:_   
_ALREADY?????? 10.21am_

Mingyu’s mind going crazy ‘it’s been one minute since class ended, how did people know already?

_Jihoon:_   
_Who’s he going with? 10.22am_

_Soonyoung:_   
_Jessica Suarez! 10.22am_

_Minghao:_   
_Cheerleader Jessica?? 10.22am_

_Soonyoung:_   
_YES CHEERLEADING JESSICA!! 10.23am_

_Jihoon:_   
_Whoa, she’s hot. Congrats Mingyu! 10.23am_

The group chat continued to buzz. Mingyu replying here and there in the ten-minute break he had between classes as he strolled slowly to the other room.

_Wonwoo unopened msg_

Mingyu’s heart stopped. Did he know? Fuck, how was he going to explain going to prom with a girl. Wait, they weren’t even together, so was it okay? Then again, Mingyu just assumed they were somehow ‘exclusive’ so maybe not... Wait, were they exclusive? Was Wonwoo seeing someone else? So many things ran through his mind that made him not want to open it. But eventually curiosity got the better of him and he did.

_Wonwoo:_   
_Are you still coming tonight? 10.26am_

Fuck. That’s right. Tonight was their first study session at Wonwoo’s. Nerves hit Mingyu’s stomach as he thought about it. It was literally like their first time alone all over again.

_Mingyu:_   
_Of course! I’ll see you there. 7.30? 10.27am_

_Wonwoo:_   
_Perfect. See you then. 10.28am_

Mingyu settled down in his next class. Suddenly everything seemed to being going slow.

\---

Mingyu had been pulled up outside Wonwoo’s home for the past six minutes and counting. Why was he so scared to go in? Clearly Mingyu had no problem with all the make-out sessions in his own home so what was so scary about a study session in Wonwoo’s? He had been trying to convince himself of just that. There was nothing to worry about before getting out of the car. Finally at seven minutes he legs began to move.

Knocking on the door, it was familiar. Mingyu had been here twice over the summer; first time he drove Wonwoo home after being at the park for too long, second time was after they went swimming. Mingyu loved swimming. That’s exactly why he took Wonwoo to this lake he always used to go to as a child.

* * *

 

_**July 21st. Summer vacation.** _

A few days after Wonwoo’s birthday. A few days after their kiss. And sadly, a few days before Mingyu went home to start school again. The two boys had been inseparable the whole summer, ever since the day they met. And it showed clearly. By now they were both sure they knew everything about each other. Mingyu had told Wonwoo about how his parents divorced when he was eight. How it nearly ruined his mom financially and emotionally and he caught her crying herself to sleep some nights. How she then lost her job and they were forced to move into his grandmother’s house until she could get back on her feet.

‘That’s why I’m so close to my grandma’ He explained. ‘Whilst my mom was looking for work my grandma did everything for me. She really helped us both out when my mom really needed it.’

It was very touching.

That’s why bringing Wonwoo to this lake was such a big deal for Mingyu.

“This is where my grandma took me the day we found out my mom got a job.” He proudly claimed. Walking next to Wonwoo, the two of them stayed extremely close the entire time. The scenery was beautiful, huge willow trees hanging close to the water edge, plants and flowers following the outskirts. Tons of children were also in the area too, running around with water guns and balloons or playing by the water side. And for once Mingyu had convinced Wonwoo to come out of the shade long enough to enjoy walking in the sun.

“That’s great.” Wonwoo smiled, his hand brushing a little against Mingyu’s, making electricity run up his spine. It was like neither of them could get used to this. Just being with each other, but on the same side they were so comfortable with each other too.

“Yeah, she also taught me to swim here.” Mingyu finally continued after enjoying his surroundings a little longer. “It may not look it, but the water gets pretty deep out in the middle. She didn’t want me getting too excited and not be able to make my way back onto land.”

Wonwoo huffed a small laugh. He loved listening to Mingyu’s stories about his childhood. He never seemed to talk about school too much he noticed, but he didn’t mind. Because Wonwoo didn’t have many stories to tell at all.

“Can you swim?” Mingyu asked, making Wonwoo squint in the sun to look up at him.

“Me? Of course.” Wonwoo answered as if it was absurd that he couldn’t. At that moment some children ran past, water guns ablaze and set at each other, and unfortunately the two guys seemed caught in the cross fire.

“Watch out!” Mingyu laughed in warning, but it was too late. The two of them becoming victims to water cannons; soaking their shirts and all Mingyu could do was laugh. But Wonwoo definitely wasn’t impressed.

“Jeez, you look like someone’s just told you your cats died!” Mingyu laughed. Luckily most of his damage fell onto his legs, luckily he was wearing shorts so his legs would dry off in any given time, but Wonwoo had been stood closer. He stared down at his drenched shirt now hanging from him.

“Just take it off!” Mingyu offered a solution to the sour look on his face.

“No.” Wonwoo answered swiftly, but it made Mingyu laugh harder.

“Aw what’s wrong? Are you shy?” He teased, still not impressing Wonwoo but he did laugh out of sheer disbelief to the situation. “Don’t worry, no one here cares if you’ve got abs – like me- or not.” Mingyu made sure to get that point across, making Wonwoo turn slightly redder at the thought.

“No it’s not that-” He huffed, the coldness of the water now sticking onto his skin and making him gasp. “I don’t feel comfortable... showing my body like that. That’s all.” Mingyu softened at that remark. Looking around he came to another solution.

“If it bothers you that much, I can give you my shirt.”

Wonwoo stared at Mingyu like he just grew an extra head.

“I mean, I’m not opposed to walking around shirtless. I’ve definitely got the body for it-”

“Yes, I got that part.” Wonwoo interrupted quickly, making Mingyu laugh in victory to know he was flustered about it. Wonwoo quickly looked for something.

“Can we change over there? There’s less people.” He quietly muttered it to Mingyu, pointing in the direction of a tall, shaded willow tree. Mingyu easily obliged and lead the way.

“Okay so...” Wonwoo nervously said, looking down to the ground and definitely anywhere other than Mingyu. “You take yours off first. Then I’ll change mine.” He explained, Mingyu scoffing a little.

“Is this a ploy to undress me first?” Mingyu laughed, Wonwoo panicking slightly but Mingyu definitely didn’t mean it that way. “Are you going to steal my wallet and shirt? Was this your plan?”

Shortly after joking around he obliged. Having zero shame as he pulled his shirt up, revealing a very toned and bronzed set of abs that he had obviously worked hard for. It would be a lie to say Wonwoo didn’t momentarily forget why they were over here.

“Now you?” Mingyu tried to bring him back to the moment, holding his shirt out for Wonwoo to take hold of. Wonwoo very awkwardly held it in one hand, eyes glancing from the ground to Mingyu in an attempt to focus on changing his shirt whilst revealing as little as possible and also definitely just staring at Mingyu as much as possible.

It was awkward, Wonwoo fumbling as clearly neither of them thought for Mingyu to hold the shirt until Wonwoo was done. Finally Wonwoo was pulled one arm and his head out of the shirt and was now in the process of trying to slip Mingyu’s shirt over his free arm.

That’s when Mingyu spotted it. A long surgical-looking scar stretching from Wonwoo’s shoulder to, maybe his back, Mingyu couldn’t see. It went underneath his armpit in a U-shape. Before Mingyu could stare anymore Wonwoo was dressed and holding onto his wet shirt.

“Can I ask?” Mingyu said quietly. Wonwoo’s heart freezing in his throat as he tried to gulp.

“About the-”

“Scar?” Wonwoo finished off for him. Mingyu felt a little guilty for having pointed it out. Now he could see why he was self concious about changing in public.

“It’s from a surgery. I had last year.” Wonwoo tried to state plainly with no emotion but Mingyu could tell it was an upsetting experience. To end up with such a large scar.

“Must’ve been a tough surgery.” Mingyu consoled. Wonwoo nodded meekly.

“Yeah well uh- I prefer not to talk about it.” Wonwoo tried to wrap up the conversation. “It’s still raw.”

And with that, Mingyu never mentioned it again.

* * *

 

Finally the door opened, Wonwoo answered and invited him in.

 


	18. Chapter 18

He stood facing Wonwoo at the door for a moment. With another memory of summer fresh in his mind, this was really starting to feel like they were starting over again. The awkward staring, stumbling over words. Mingyu hated it already. Eventually Wonwoo moved back to allow Mingyu to enter the house, taking a few steps into the room he realized they weren’t alone.

“You must be Mingyu.” A woman’s voice greeted. Suddenly Mingyu’s attention was pulled past Wonwoo and to an older woman stood behind him. She was a lot like Wonwoo in some ways; small eyes and tall. Still shorter than both Wonwoo and Mingyu, but definitely taller than his mother. He assumed this was Wonwoo’s mother anyway. She was smiling up to him invitingly that Mingyu automatically smiled back to her.

“It’s nice to meet you.” He bowed his head a little at her, considering she was just out of the way to shake her hand or something. Slowly the lady came over to stand by her won.

“Call me Mrs. Jeon. I’ve heard all about you.”

Those words struck through Mingyu’s heart. All about him? What exactly did that mean? Suddenly so much ran through Mingyu’s mind; did she know about them? Like, them them. Being together. Once again Mingyu had to remind himself that they weren’t actually together and that ‘hearing all about’ someone could also be very negative. Mingyu gulped.

“This is my mom, if you haven’t noticed.” Wonwoo formally introduced. “She was just leaving though, right? To pick my brother up?” Wonwoo’s firm words trying to coax his mother out of the door as Mingyu had just entered.

“Oh. Of course!” She totally caught the strain of his words. Shimmying around Mingyu on her way out she looked the taller boy up and down a few times, Mingyu becoming stiff at the thought of being literally ‘sized up’. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

Finally she was gone. Mingyu wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but her saying she will be back in an hour ultimately meant that they would meet again when it was time for Mingyu to leave. And Wonwoo’s brother? He knew he had one, but they had never met. Was he like Wonwoo? Or total opposite? Mingyu would just have to wait and see.

“Sorry, I tried to get her to leave earlier.” Wonwoo apologized, finally Mingyu removed his jacket and tried to make himself ‘comfortable’, if such a thing was possible right now. Wonwoo began to head upstairs, closely followed by Mingyu.

“She kept finding excuses not to leave. Like she needed to reorder the dishes in alphabetical order.” Mingyu burst into laughter at that statement, just like Wonwoo. “I know right?”

Finally Wonwoo opened the door to, what Mingyu supposed was, his bedroom. It was vastly different than Mingyu’s. A lot more personalized, almost twice the size. A bookcase engulfing half a wall with a desk filling up the space next to it. Wonwoo had a double bed, laced with blue cotton sheets which gave off a warm feeling. There were even gaming posters on the wall which totally surprised Mingyu because he never had Wonwoo down as the type of person to game.

“I just think she really wanted to see you.” Wonwoo finished, letting Mingyu walk in behind him and close the door. Mingyu took a while to reply to that. In awe at the room, all Mingyu could think was how inadequate Wonwoo probably found his own room for studying and he felt sorry for forcing him to study there twice a week. Even if Wonwoo never complained.

“You mean ‘after hearing all about me’?” Mingyu teased. He knew it would hit Wonwoo’s nerves and make him flustered, but he didn’t get to see that look on his face as Wonwoo walked over to the desk in the corner.

“Yeah, well. She’s always curious about any boys I meet.” Although that sentence was vague Mingyu definitely took a lot from it. Staggering a little to the side in shock, he tried to disguise it as him putting his bag down by the side of the door.

“You mean she knows about you?” Mingyu didn’t need to use a specific word to get his point across. He had no idea why the word still seemed so ‘taboo’. It was the twenty first centuary, gay people were everywhere! But the word set off thoughts in Mingyu’s mind that he wasn’t prepared to deal with yet. Wonwoo seemed to understand.

“Yep.” He answered simply. Turning away from the desk to look over to Mingyu. He was probably checking for his reaction.

Mingyu tilted his head cautiously. “So she thinks that we’re...” Once again he didn’t need to use specifics.

“Probably.”

Well that definitely made Mingyu’s head spin. Wonwoo was just letting his mom believe they were dating? Did that mean that Wonwoo thought it too? Should he ask? Now really didn’t seem like the right time and luckily Wonwoo continued to talk.

“You’re really going to study with your books in your bag?” He pointed out, Mingyu instantly looking down to the bag he had left on the floor by the door. Wonwoo took a step closer to him.

“Maybe I don’t want to study.” Mingyu acted brave, when really he was totally winging what he was saying right now, hoping it was enough to sway Wonwoo too. And it seemed to work. Wonwoo took a few more steps closer to Mingyu, making the space between them small enough to feel Mingyu’s breath hitching in his throat. Wonwoo’s smirk said it all, he could sense the nerves still crawling under Mingyu’s skin, even after all this time. Quietly he brushed his hand against Mingyu’s arm.

“Well she did say we have an hour.” His low voice was the instigator, the thing that drove Mingyu to snap out of his nervousness and kiss Wonwoo. It quickly escalated into Wonwoo pushing his tongue against Mingyu’s lips, forcing him to respond by deepening the kiss. It was like Wonwoo needed this more than Mingyu for a change. Usually it was Mingyu quietly begging to let his hands roam over Wonwoo’s clothed body but now Wonwoo was pulling Mingyu towards his bed and there was no way Mingyu was going to let him down with that suggestion.

Using a knee between Wonwoo’s thighs to prop himself up, Mingyu lay over Wonwoo. It wasn’t often the two of them ended up like this. Usually Wonwoo was fully in control, sitting on top of Mingyu, causing him to beg Wonwoo to move closer to him so he could feel him better. But now Mingyu had all of the control and he was using it to his advantage.

He wasted no time in pressing his body against Wonwoo’s, timing himself with the speed of their kissing, Mingyu rolled his hips against Wonwoo’s beneath him, making the smaller boy whine into the kiss. Mingyu could feel the atmosphere heat up, both of them getting lost in each other, Mingyu could feel Wonwoo smiling into the kiss each time Mingyu met his hips. This only spurred him on to push the boundaries, hands creeping to the hem of Wonwoo’s sweater which covered the skinniness of him easily, Mingyu’s hands crawling onto his skin in an attempt to undress him.

“Maybe we should study.” Wonwoo managed to breathe between kisses. Mingyu not registering that Wonwoo had spoken at all until he felt the hands that were on his back suddenly clasp onto those of his own, but Mingyu still felt brave.

“You said we’ve got an hour.” He smirked, kissing Wonwoo heavily but this time the need wasn’t returned. Wonwoo allowing it to die down into mere chaste kisses, losing the momentum they both just had seconds ago.

“I think she was being generous.” Wonwoo panted, eyes finally fully opening to look up to Mingyu. He wasn’t met with a look of disappointment, Mingyu couldn’t really be disappointed after such an intense make-out session but he could definitely sense a hint of confusion. Wonwoo did his best to deter it.

“You always told me you wanted to wait until you were after eighteen before doing anything.” Those words definitely brought the realness of the situation into Mingyu’s mind. Sure he could feel himself becoming worked up during the kiss, how he brushed himself against Wonwoo multiple times to stimulate himself, but really he thought he was doing it to get a reaction out of Wonwoo he had never had before. He was only just realizing where that was actually heading.

“You’ve only just turned eighteen, you don’t have to rush to do anything.”

Mingyu still had never thought about it. Not seriously anyway. Sure maybe once or twice in the shower, a few times before going to bed, but not... when he was actually with Wonwoo. The two of them had never even talked about dating, let alone the dynamics of... it. Which still had Mingyu confused from time to time because really: How did you discuss something like that beforehand? How did you know what to do? Who did what? It was totally confusing and now that Wonwoo had brought his attention to ‘that’s what was going to happen’ if they continued, honestly Mingyu was thankful he had brought it to a stop. What was Mingyu really going to do? Undress Wonwoo and then stare at him? Maybe he wasn’t the best to be taking the lead.

“You’re right. We should- We should study.” Mingyu groaned, picking himself off Wonwoo heavily, it wasn’t regret he was feeling, but it was definitely a negative feeling. Maybe he felt inadequate. Maybe Wonwoo knew that he wasn’t going to be good enough; were they always going to postpone it? Why were all these thoughts only just hitting Mingyu now? He sighed, but looking back down to Wonwoo who was looking just as flustered as Mingyu felt, he suddenly felt a little better.

“You should come to my party this weekend.” Mingyu lightly said. Wonwoo sat up, still trapped between Mingyu for the time being but he didn’t mind it. Grunting a little to make himself comfortable he looked strangely at Mingyu’s offer.

“Please.” Mingyu’s voice was still soft but imploring him to break down and give into him. “It’ll be so fun with you there.”

Wonwoo thought about it for a minute. Maybe he was still in a vulnerable state from before, Mingyu’s tone definitely having some sort of barrier breaking effect on him but he finally was able to answer.

“I just think people would be happier if I didn’t come.” He said, Mingyu almost whining at that answer, Wonwoo gently pushed Mingyu off him.

“But I’ll be happy if you come.” Mingyu pleaded. Shuffling back so the two of them were once again in their own space he sat on his legs.

“Well even if I did come it’s not like we could hang out.” Wonwoo answered. And damn, he had a point. This whole party was organized by his best friends. For him. And as far as Mingyu remembered, they didn’t really think much of Wonwoo to begin with. Besides, what was he going to do? Tell his friend’s that him and Wonwoo had been meeting in secret for months behind everyone’s back? He knew exactly how that would sound to them. And they would be right if they were to make any wise guesses.

His silence was Wonwoo’s answer. The two of them stayed like that for a moment. Not knowing how to move the topic on, because neither of them particulary wanted to talk about it, but at the same time they didn’t know what to say. Wonwoo finally slipped his feet off the edge of the bed.

“Oh by the way.” He said, catching Mingyu’s attention once again. He watched as Wonwoo leaned down to the side of the bed, opening the drawer he pulled out a box. “Happy late birthday.”

Handing the box to Mingyu, the newly turned eighteen-year-old looked stunned. He held it for a moment, like he was unsure what to do before Wonwoo laughed.

“Are you going to open it?” That finally prompted Mingyu into that action. Opening the box, he quickly stared back to Wonwoo.

“I can’t accept that.” He said, offering the box back, but Wonwoo quickly pushed it back to him.

“It wasn’t that expensive. Besides-” Wonwoo paused as he took the present out of the box. It was a watch. Nothing flashy or too simple, it was silver plated and functional. But still... Mingyu had never owned a watch before.

“- If you’re going to college, you’re going to need it. Can’t keep relying on your phone planner to remind you about everything.” He teased a little, making Mingyu’s ears prick red before he burst into a huge smile.

“Thank you so much.” He said, leaning over to kiss Wonwoo firmly one more time before looking back to his new watch in delight. The two of them sitting in happy silence for a second before Mingyu came up with an idea.

“How about we do something? After my party?”

Wonwoo’s eyes widened. “You say something, you mean-” He stopped himself, knowing Mingyu would catch his meaning, and ultimately he did which sent him back into panic.

“What? Oh. Oh no, no I mean like-” He stuttered, making Wonwoo smirk with a laugh now at how cute it was that he still got so easily flustered after all this time. “I mean like, go out somewhere. Together, you know like uh-”

  
“Like a date?”

Mingyu paused. Wow, they had never been on a date before, have they? Study sessions and making out really didn’t classify as a date at the end of the day, and now that he thought about it; maybe that’s why they never felt ‘official’. They had never actually ‘dated’ they just spent time together or planned to see each other, never in a romantic way. Maybe... this would change it all. Mingyu would really like that.

“Yeah. Like a date.”

 


	19. Chapter 19

Finally his party came. School had finished and Mingyu was pretty sure at least half, if not all of the seniors had gone home to get ready for this party. It was the talk of the school. People talking about how Seungcheol had paid off the management at the bowling alley to allow people to sneak booze in, talking about even college students got wind of the plans and were planning on coming. The air was electric with energy as Mingyu was in Soonyoung’s home getting ready to leave soon.

“You gotta be fashionably late!” Soonyoung advised. Mingyu laughed at how seriously he was taking this whole thing.

“To my own party?” Mingyu replied. Fixing a belt onto his jeans, he buckled it tightly. Catching a glimpse of the watch on his wrist which caused a smile to erupt on his face knowing who it was from.

“Especially your own party.” His best friend confirmed.

“Jihoon said he’ll text us when to come, they want to make sure enough people are there first.”

“This is my party you’re talking about.” Mingyu chuckled to himself, finally sitting down on Soonyoung’s bed whilst he waited.

“People will come just for me.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Soonyoung conceded. Joining his friend on his own bed they both sat comfortably for a minute. Soonyoung running his eyes over Mingyu to check him once more.

“Since when were you a ‘watch guy’?” Soonyoung chuckled. Mingyu instantly looking down to the watch on his wrist that had caught his best friend’s eye. He felt his cheeks flare up with heat for a seconds.

“Since I’m gonna be a college guy, I gotta look the part!” He remembered Wonwoo’s words to him. Soonyoung personally finding it hilarious.

“What, like a grandpa?” He laughed, Mingyu watching his friend’s reaction lightly.

“Just use your phone, like everyone else in the twenty first centaury.

At that moment, both of their phones buzzed. Soonyoung being faster to check his, he announced it was the text from Jihoon for both of them to leave. Getting into Mingyu’s car to go to his party.

Mingyu was right in thinking there wouldn’t be a problem with getting people to turn up. In fact, he was very right. Already the bowling alley was teaming with teenagers, and believe it or not there was actually bowling happening in every lane. But the excess of students very easily spilled onto the nearby pool tables and benches and tables scattered around the joint. Things were definitely in full swing as Soonyoung and Mingyu prowled through place looking for their other friends.

“There he is!” Seungcheol roared over the crowd, spotting the taller friend first as he walked through everyone to reach him.

“How is the birthday boy?” Everyone within the vicinity of hearing Seungcheol say that cheered.

“It’s just party boy tonight, Cheol.” Mingyu corrected, considering his birthday was last week. Seungcheol met that comment with glorious praise almost.

“That’s the spirit!” He chortled, whacking Mingyu on the back as usual he turned to guide Mingyu away somewhere.

“Get this boy a beer” He announced over a bar. Mingyu guessed the rumors were right; Seungcheol really had paid some of the staff off to be able to allow them to drink inside. It took a minute, but a bottle of beer reached both of their hands, Seungcheol leaning over to clink the bottles together before leading Mingyu to another place again. It was by this point he had realized Soonyoung was gone and he looked around for him.

“Where’s Soonyoung?” He asked, Seungcheol practically dismissing that worry.

“Probably off finding his prom date.” Seungcheol sounded bored at that statement. “You know Becky 8th grade math?” Suddenly Mingyu was hit with the image of the girl they knew in 8th grade.

“Becky braceface?” Mingyu half laughed as he recalled the name. Seungcheol erupted loudly.

“Yeah, that’s her! That’s his date to prom!” Suddenly both the boys were up in hysterics, slapping each other on the arm as they laughed.

“God I hope she got those braces off if he wants to get lucky.” Mingyu made sure to take a gulp of beer slowly so he didn’t have to respond to that.

“So what about you?” Seungcheol filled the gap in anyway. Mingyu hissed a bit as he swallowed the bitter drink.

“What about me?”

“You can do what you been doing for years now but legally.” Seungcheol explained. Mingyu narrowed his eyes in thought for a second until he realized what he was talking about.

“And you’ve got a whole party in your hands right now, the picking is yours!”

Mingyu looked around. Girls easily outnumbered the boys and for an obvious reason too. They were waiting for Mingyu. That made him a little bit nervous, for the first time since arriving he was looking around to notice just how many eyes were on him and waiting for him to come and mingle. He couldn’t really not mingle either, this was his party! That thought was slightly intimidating. He needed to find a way out of it. Luckily his prayers were answered for him. Jihoon making his way over to the two friends, exclaiming he had found Soonyoung and now he had ‘you two too’. He announced something about a bowling alley, and Mingyu thought that was the perfect distraction. Jihoon brought another beer to Mingyu’s hands before leading them away.

Time passed quicker at the bowling alley, and Mingyu found than more often than not his drink was being topped up for him. At first, he complained. But a few beers in, Mingyu had almost lost every care in the world. He didn’t remember when he stopped bowling, or when he had come surrounded by girls he didn’t even know, but Mingyu was seemingly taking it in his stride. Just like all those lies he had told, now he was finally playing the part for others to see. ‘Looks like the stories were true.’

The girl next to him, Mingyu didn’t know her name even though at some point during the night she had told him it, hung onto his shoulder. Sitting in the booth in front of a bowling lane with Seungcheol and Jihoon opposite him Mingyu was smiling all thanks to the alcohol in his blood.

“You look comfortable there captain.” Seungcheol called over. The girl lacing herself onto Mingyu giggling as he lazily smirked in reply. The girl leaned into his ear, whispering something about how they should ‘get away from all the noise’ but Mingyu had definitely seen one too many teen movies to know what that meant. Slowly he looked around him. Coming to realize what he really could see. No Soonyoung, Jihoon sat as a table, impressing girls with his music knowledge. Seungcheol sat in front of him almost splayed open with a girl on each arm and he realized. This wasn’t really him.

“No thanks.” He declined, the look of almost disgust on the girl’s face called Seungcheol into question, but suddenly Mingyu was out of fun and he stood up to go to the bathroom.

“I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Seungcheol called, following Mingyu out of the booth. Mingyu was having to focus thoroughly on walking in a straight line and not to bump into people as he tried to go to the bathroom that he didn’t really hear his friend calling. 

“She was all over you!” Seungcheol managed to catch Mingyu’s arm to gain his attention, making Mingyu stop and turn around.

“Guess I’m just not that interested in her.” He muttered, breaking away from Seungcheol to try to continue walking. He really wanted to throw cold water on his face, suddenly the music from the surround sound speakers was drilling into his head like an early onset hangover.

“Does it matter? She’s hot!” That really was Seungcheol’s argument. Making Mingyu turn around in disbelief that his friend really thought it was that easy.

“Besides, even if you don’t want her there’s tons of girls at this party you could have.” This argument was not convincing Mingyu in the slightest, and he needed an excuse.

“Yeah, well I promised Jess I would go to prom with her.” He muttered, finding a nearby table to balance himself on temporarily.

“So better not.”

“Nonsense!” Seungcheol only encouraged. Drinking the last of his beer he began to look around, scoping the scene. “What Jess doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” Those words resounded with him. Except in his mind he was replacing ‘Jess’ with ‘Wonwoo’. It was practically the same situation; he wasn’t dating Jess. Yet he was going to prom with her. Fuck, he still hadn’t told Wonwoo about that either. Now his mind was filling with guilt and Seungcheol noticed.

“Come on, it’s not that deep.” He tried to comfort Mingyu. Picking Mingyu’s drink up for him to encourage him to finish it, Mingyu obliged.

“What difference is it from when you’ve slept with two girls in one night?” He pulled up a past story Mingyu had let spread about him.

“That’s different-” Mingyu quickly tried to cover for himself. “That was a party and this-”

“Is a party too.” Fuck, Seungcheol was right. However Seungcheol being right was not convincing Mingyu of anything right now, and the alcohol mixing with the anger in his system was not a good feeling.

“Is that your only agenda tonight?” He snapped. Seungcheol not losing his cool in the slightest as he sighed, leaning back a little as if he was surveying the area. “Using my party as some hook up scene?”

“What did you think this party was for!?” He finally laughed, Mingyu feeling himself become even more angry, his surroundings becoming dizzy and all he could sadly focus on were Seungcheol’s choice of words. “You really think college girls were gonna show up if I told them it was for anyone else? Not even money talks as well as your name.”

“So you admit you’re using me.” Mingyu gritted his teeth. Seungcheol finally let his eyes sink a little, looking over to his friend.

“It’s not like that captain.” His friend argued.

“Then what is it like?”

For a minute all Seungcheol could do was stare. Mingyu immediately taking his silence for his answer and scoffing as he turned away, only for Seungcheol to reach out once more to grab his arm.

“Don’t touch me!” He raised his voice as a warning sign, and it definitely raised the attention of a few partygoers around him. Alongside Jihoon and Soonyoung who quickly made their way to the unraveling scene.

“What’s going on?” Jihoon asked, approaching with caution as Mingyu stood defensively and Seungcheol did his best in looking calm.

“Gyu’s got it in his head we’re using him.” Seungcheol huffed, that tone only making Mingyu angrier.

“Gyu, stop being stupid.” Jihoon began, but quickly Mingyu cut him off.

“Oh, so now I’m stupid!?”

Soonyoung tried to step forward to help his best friend, but once again Mingyu backed away.

“No! You guys only want me when you think I’m useful.” Mingyu’s tone was firm and unnverving. The three friends just watching him.

“You don’t talk to me about college, or ask me how I’m doing. You just take what you can get from me.”

His friends continued to watch him, keeping quiet because they knew any words would only antagonize him.

“Even Seungcheol just admitted now I’m only here because of my name. In fact, most of these people are only here because of my name!” Finally Soonyoung had had enough, stepping but only to be stopped by Mingyu once more.

“And you; you’re meant to be my best friend. But when was the last time we hung out and you didn’t ask for me to hook you up with some girl, or tell you all the details about what I’ve done?” Soonyoung quickly hung his head.

Mingyu had finally worn himself out. Feeling his headache from the music getting worse he took a deep breath in, stumbling backwards slightly at he moved away from his friends.

“That’s what I thought.”

He turned around to leave, the moment he did he heard a scuffle which by the sounds of it sounded like Jihoon and Soonyoung holding Seungcheol back. The whispering words of ‘just let him go’, ‘he’s drunk’, ‘we’ll talk to him at school’, ‘let him calm down’ being heard by Mingyu but he chose to ignore it all. Walking to his car he attempted to insert his key into the door with a shakey hand but suddenly his weight was thrown to the side.

“What the fuck are you doing!?” Mingyu cursed, not even sure who it was yet as he had to stop himself from falling over by catching himself on the hood of the car.

“Stopping you from getting into the car like a damn fool!” Seunghceol practically roared back at him. The two friends having a stand-off as Jihoon and Soonyoung ran outside of the bowling alley to watch the scene.

Seungcheol leaned over, grabbing the key from Mingyu which ultimately caused him to become even more angry.

“Someone call him a taxi before I end up calling an ambulance!” Seungcheol shouted back, Mingyu used him being distracted to push him away and try to get his keys back.

“Fucking give me my keys back, Cheol! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Stopping you from making a mistake!” Seungcheol burst back, pulling the keys out of Mingyu’s reach and utterly enraging him once more. “Like I always do!”

He tried to calm down. Hearing Jihoon in the background calling a taxi for Mingyu, Seungcheol narrowed his eyes on him.

“I’ve always got your back and this is how you repay us? By insulting your best friend of eighteen years and walking out on your own party? The one your friends worked so hard on? You really are selfish, Mingyu.”

Every word Seungcheol sent made Mingyu experience two feelings; guilt and anger. Guilt because he knew there was truth. Somewhere hidden in there Mingyu knew how he reacted was probably over the top, but he couldn’t help it. Years of lying to keep on top of his game had finally caught up with him the moment he was forced to make it a reality for one night. And he couldn’t do it. Not anymore.

“I don’t need you to look out for my mistakes”

“Oh but you do.” Seungcheol’s voice almost sounded like a warning. Instilling anxiety into Mingyu’s core and making him falter slightly.

“You don’t even realize the amount of errors you make. I’m the one who fixes them for you. I’M the one making sure you stay on top! By all means necessary!”

“And what’s that supposed to mean!?” Mingyu roared. “’By all means necessary’!?”

There was a moment a silence. Both boys exerting all their strength on show to each other Seungcheol quickly looked over Mingyu’s shoulder to see a taxi coming.

“You’ll figure it out one day, captain.” Mingyu’s confusion as to what his friend could mean managed to subdue him long enough for Seungcheol to hail the taxi for to him. Opening the door for Mingyu he warily climbed in himself before Seungcheol told the taxi driver what address to go to and threw Mingyu’s keys back onto his lap.

The taxi drive home would take all but ten minutes. But those ten minutes were stretching longer and longer as Mingyu tried to steady his breathing, still reeling from the fight he got into with Seungcheol. Swiping his phone open he checked the time.

_1.22am_

‘Don’t text Wonwoo. Don’t text Wonwoo, you’re drunk and he’ll be sleeping. Don’t text him.’ His mind repeated over and over but it was like his fingers weren’t listening as he began to type out a message.

_Mingyu:_   
_Are you awake? 1.24am_

Mingyu took the utmost time and concentration to type that message out perfectly, but almost dropped his phone when there was an instant reply.

_Wonwoo:_   
_Yeah. Are you okay?? 1.24am_

_Mingyu:_   
_Yes 1.25am_

_Mingyu:_   
_Kinda 1.25am_

_Mingyu:_   
_No. 1.26am_

_Mingyu:_   
_Are you free tomorrow? 1.26am_

_Mingyu:_   
_Well, today 1.26am_

_Wonwoo:_   
_Sure, do you want to move our date til then? 1.27am_

_Mingyu:_   
_Actually_

Mingyu paused. He had promised Wonwoo a date, after his party, which technically was tomorrow and he didn’t want to let him down. But also Mingyu couldn’t think of anything worse than wanting to go outside and face what he just did tonight. Even having to walk back to the scene to get his car was bad enough.

_Mingyu:_   
_Actually can we just chill in yours? 1.29am_

_Mingyu:_   
_I’ll make it up to you another day, I promise. 1.30am_

Wonwoo must have known Mingyu was drunk somehow. The lazy speed of his texts, paired with the fact he was sending multiple ones in a row and it was late at night after his party somehow gave it away.

_Wonwoo:_   
_Alright. Get some rest, drink some water before you go to sleep and eat breakfast when you wake up. 1.32am_

_Wonwoo:_   
_Come around any time. 1.32am_

  
Mingyu almost felt like he was going to cry. After his night turning so sour all Wonwoo wanted to do what make sure he was okay, without even knowing what was going on.

So he did just that. After paying the taxi, Mingyu went to the kitchen and drank a glass of water before taking himself to bed. Drunken Mingyu somehow fell asleep a lot quicker than regular Mingyu and in the morning he didn’t feel half as bad as he thought he was going to. Checking his phone he re-read Wonwoo’s last messages about having breakfast, making himself toast and cereal before finally going to retrieve his car in the early afternoon.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains smut sorry not sorry

This was the first time since summer they had met up without any pretense of studying beforehand. The first time both of them wouldn’t have to set up a space and keep in it, only crossing the boundary whenever Wonwoo got bored or Mingyu had a question. Wonwoo had already set up the day for when Mingyu was going to arrive; although he wasn’t sure at what time so he had actually over prepared.

“I have six movies.” Wonwoo said when Mingyu arrived.

“drama, horror, classical horror, thriller, superhero, action, and Disney.” The last option seemed slightly childish but Mingyu didn’t ask why. Instead he listened to the silence of the house, not something he was used to or expecting.

“Where is everyone?” He looked around, fully expecting Wonwoo’s mom to jump out at any moment. Ever since he had met her once apparently she had been asking about him; so he was surprised she wasn’t there to see him once again.

“Cultural day.” Wonwoo shrugged. The term confused Mingyu, it sounded a lot like a school thing.

“Once a month my family like to go out and explore something cultural in the area. Last month it was Korea town.” The irony made both Mingyu and Wonwoo laugh. Korea town, really.

“How come you didn’t go?”

“I told them I’ve got plans.” Wonwoo said, leading Mingyu upstairs once more.

“Did you say with me?”

“Maybe.” He teased. Finally walking into his bedroom once more Wonwoo set up his laptop, once again asking for Mingyu to confirm what they wanted to watch but Mingyu honestly didn’t know much about movies.

"I like watching them, but I don’t really have a favorite." He muttered, making Wonwoo reply something along the lines of Mingyu being totally uncultured.

“Should I join your family on one of these culture days, then?” Mingyu cheekily suggested, making Wonwoo smirk as he slipped ‘Miracle in Cell no.7’ into his laptop.

“I’m sure they would like that.” Wonwoo replied, though it wasn’t serious and Mingyu didn’t take it as such as Wonwoo settled down on the bed.

The pair of them lay down next to each other, Wonwoo resting the laptop on his thighs with the screen tilted towards Mingyu. Mingyu had confessed he had never seen this movie before so at the start he explained it a little.

‘It’s about a father who’s falsely accused of a crime and gets sentenced to death.’ Which of course prompted Mingyu into a million questions, all of them shunned by Wonwoo who told him to ‘just watch the movie and see’.

It took just over an hour into the movie for either of them to say anything else.

“You know this movie always makes me cry.” Wonwoo admitted. Mingyu narrowing his eyes whilst still watching the screen, totally captivated by it.

“Why are we watching it then?” Mingyu slowly questioned. As he did so, Wonwoo moved to get comfortable, the screen rocking a little as he moved to rest a hand behind his head to continue to prop him up, Mingyu not paying much attention to it.

“Because.” Wonwoo stretched his back

“Sometimes it’s good to cry.” Mingyu finally broke his attention off the screen to look at Wonwoo. Was he crazy? Since when was it ever good to cry? Wonwoo didn’t need Mingyu to speak to know that’s what he was thinking.

“Sometimes you just got to let it all out.” He continued, still not making a lot of sense to the taller boy. Let what out?

“Whether it’s happiness, sadness, frustration, fear...” He continued to explain, eyes quickly looking over to Mingyu to check if he understood that.

“It’s a healthy method to express these things. Rather than getting mad at the world and leaving it pent up.”

Somehow, even without knowing, Wonwoo always knew what to say. It made Mingyu sigh deeply from his chest.

Wonwoo didn’t budge, keeping his eyes on the screen, Mingyu also looked back to the screen hoping that he wouldn’t ask about it. But he did.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

‘No’ Rang Mingyu’s body, but his mind was screaming yes. Every time he talked to Wonwoo things always seemed to make sense, get better. Why wouldn’t this be the same?

“I got into a fight with Seungcheol last night.” He admitted.

“...And Soonyoung. And Jihoon.”

Wonwoo didn’t look away from the screen. It was almost like the movie was a means of how they were communicating so easily. Both of them continuing to mindlessly watch the movie whilst actually focusing on the conversation.

“What did they do?” Wonwoo asked, making Mingyu sigh loudly again and turn his head away from the screen, finally making Wonwoo look towards him.

“Nothing, well- they did. But it was me, and I overreacted and-” He folded his arms across his chest and sunk down on the bed, almost childlike, like he didn’t want to admit that he was wrong... but he knew he was and that he had to admit to it.

“They stopped me from getting into my car drunk.”

Wonwoo chewed on his lip a little before answering

“Well that wasn’t ‘bad friend’ish of them.” He offered as sort of a mid-way acceptance. Mingyu huffed a little because he knew it was the truth.

“But why did you fight in the first place?”

“Because.” Mingyu single-wordedly answered, but he knew it wasn’t good enough.

“It’s just so hard. Being someone they expect me to be, balancing all of this responsibility. Sometimes I feel like I don’t even know them, like they don’t even know me-” He frowned deeply, feeling all kinds of emotions inside well up, but he didn’t want to give into them. No matter if Wonwoo told him it was good or not.

“And nobody would like the ‘real you’?” Wonwoo asked.

“You do.” Mingyu’s eyes roamed up to meet with Wonwoo’s softly. Wonwoo slightly hovering over him at the side, Mingyu had basically pushed himself lower down the bed so that Wonwoo was higher up than him. A moment passed between them before Mingyu decided he couldn’t take the distance anymore.

Leaning up and extending his neck as much as possible he kissed Wonwoo. It was a simple kiss at first, met with a few more, each one lasting a little longer until Mingyu pulled himself up enough to be back on level with Wonwoo now lying directly next to him instead.

The kiss deepened, no noise exchanged between them, it was solemn and slow, Mingyu wanting to absorb every moment of it as if it were somehow healing and Wonwoo fully obliging to it also. Then Mingyu got brave. Parting their lips with a small sigh Mingyu moved his mouth to follow Wonwoo’s jaw. For the first few seconds Wonwoo was totally taken by shock and didn’t react, making Mingyu pause slightly before continuing to his neck. The kisses were light, almost unfelt by Wonwoo who let one of his hands roam onto Mingyu’s arm in a caressing manner. Letting him taste the new skin for the first time ever.

“Can I?” Wonwoo’s voice lowly called out, no signs of shakiness or uncertainty, Mingyu took it more as an order than a request. He didn’t need to pause for long to give him permission, Wonwoo taking the smallest break to push himself on top of Mingyu before following the same routine. Planting kisses down his jaw and onto his neck.

Mingyu could feel the difference. Wonwoo’s tongue tracing over the skin, making it slightly wet. The moment Wonwoo moved on to a new area that damp spot hit the room air making the spot feel cold and sensitive. Instantly Mingyu’s eyes closed and he relaxed onto the bed. It was maybe another minute until the kisses got heavier. Moving his way down to where Mingyu’s shirt met his collarbone, this time Wonwoo used his teeth on the denser area to gain effect.

It worked. Mingyu releasing a moan from his mouth as his eyes opened, looking around the room as if his world had just been turned upside down as he pulled his shoulders back.

“Don’t worry, I won’t mark.” Wonwoo teased, Mingyu gaining the courage to look down at Wonwoo, who was instinctively looking up to him for any sort of reaction. God he looked hot. Suddenly the relaxed atmosphere Mingyu had been experiencing was being washed away, overtaken by something more electric and tense. Wonwoo returned to Mingyu’s skin, tongue pressing against his neck this time with more roughness as he sucked gently, pulling away with a popping noise and this time Mingyu didn’t try to hold in a moan.

The sound was just enough to spur Wonwoo on a little more. His fragile-like hands moving to the edge of Mingyu’s shirt, Mingyu was more concerned with the lack of sensation on his neck than to wonder what Wonwoo was doing until he asked.

“Can I take it off?” Fingers gentlying playing with his shirt as he quickly was becoming impatient for an answer.

“Yeah, of course.” Mingyu nodded almost frantically. In all honesty he just wanted Wonwoo back on him, any part of him; his lips, his neck, his chest. He didn’t care and happily obliged by sitting up to allow Wonwoo to remove his shirt. Tossing it aside Wonwoo took a moment to look down the small gap between them.

“Don’t act like you haven’t seen it before.” Mingyu boasted, catching Wonwoo off guard as it showed in his widened eyes that he was obviously forgotten.

“Summer, by the lake. I gave you my shirt because you complained yours was too wet.” Mingyu reminded him, letting his hands drop onto Wonwoo’s thighs, thumbs rubbing against the outside of his jeans which seemed to be the momentum for Wonwoo to lean in and kiss him again.

No action was barred, Wonwoo instantly going for passion as he pulled himself even closer to Mingyu, if it were possible. The movement making Mingyu’s fingers slip on Wonwoo’s jeans so he was holding his ass, using it as a method to pull the skinny boy closer too. This time there were moans. From the both of them, as Wonwoo slid his hands from around Mingyu’s neck and onto his shoulders, using the leverage to push the boy back down to the bed and following routine again. Jaw, neck, collarbone... chest. Wonwoo delved lower, letting his lips cause friction down Mingyu’s toned chest as he sloppily kissed every inch of it on the way to his stomach. Hands doing the remaining work and falling down Mingyu’s ribcage, tracing lightly with his fingertips as they did so. Mingyu’s stomach was in knots.

“Relax, relax.” Wonwoo muttered against his bronzed skin, the words making Mingyu look down once more- but oh fuck, how was he supposed to relax when he saw such a beautiful sight? Wonwoo’s eyes were practically half open as he looked up to him, making Mingyu’s breath get caught in his throat and making him choke. Wonwoo took a second to break away from his work, one hand sliding onto the bed sheets to filter into Mingyu’s, that was tightly gripping the bed sheets. It took a moment for it to sink in, the reassuring touch from Wonwoo’s thumb tracing over his palm. Allowing the hitched-up breath to finally pass him he let out a sigh, untensing his body relaxing into the sheets.

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I can stop. Any time, just say the word.” Wonwoo told him, and suddenly Mingyu realized what it was like to want somebody. He didn’t want Wonwoo to stop. He didn’t want this moment to end, he wanted it to keep building and building until he couldn’t take it anymore and it drove him crazy and he wanted it to be because of Wonwoo. He wanted him so bad. Mingyu let out a shuddered breath, a mix of frustration and anticipation, as Wonwoo backed away slightly more.

“I think it’s only fair if yours comes off too.” Mingyu heavily breathed. Wonwoo sitting up on Mingyu’s lap, who was still laying down, looking over him confused for a minute.

“Oh.” A lightbulb in Wonwoo’s mind. He figured out he meant his shirt too.

“Just a minute, I’ll turn off the light-” Wonwoo went to climb off Mingyu but suddenly his grip was tight on the older boy’s thighs to stop him from leaving.

“No, please.” He practically begged. It made Wonwoo’s heart hit his throat nervously.

“I want to see you. All of you.” Wonwoo lingered there, uncertain whether or not to give into that request. He watched Mingyu’s chest rise and fall for a moment. His perfectly sculpted chest, without any sign of injury or scars on it. Wonwoo felt scared.

Mingyu could sense it. In the moment Wonwoo looked away from him, Mingyu gave his thighs a squeeze again, bringing his attention back. His lower lip was practically quivering desperately, eyes imploring until finally Wonwoo caved.

“Okay.” He barely muttered. Slowly lifting his own shirt over his head, casting it aside alongside his eyes as Mingyu let his own eyes explore the new skin.

The scar he had seen last summer was still there. Albeit slight ever more faded than the first time he saw it, but it suddenly seemed bigger than he remembered it too. It stretched from the join of Wonwoo’s chest and shoulder underneath his arm. Assumingly to the other side and suddenly Mingyu could feel the insecurity radiating from Wonwoo who was struggling to keep on top. Mingyu sat up. Taking Wonwoo by the back of his neck to pull him in for a kiss, he let a hand run through Wonwoo’s hair in an attempt to relax him. Wonwoo confiding in the touch.

Mingyu wanted to demonstrate that he had learned. Using the hand tangled in Wonwoo’s hair to gently pull him back, parting their lips as he did so Mingyu moved to draw his attention to the crevice of Wonwoo’s neck and jaw. Letting his tongue explore the skin before moving on to a new patch, finally Mingyu earned a sweet release of a moan from Wonwoo’s mouth.

It spurred him on, he wasn’t going to promise not to mark him, like Wonwoo promised, mostly because he had no idea if what he was doing was right, but quickly Mingyu moved his lips down to meet Wonwoo’s collarbone, his impatient manner met with feverish kisses from above. It never felt like enough, even with the drones of satisfaction from Wonwoo, Mingyu wanted more. He wanted Wonwoo to know how much he wanted him right now. He wanted him to see and feel every pleasure imaginable. He just had no idea how to do it yet.

Letting his hands run on the outside of Wonwoo’s jeans he switched it up. Letting his hands now leave the friction of his jeans Mingyu let them roam upward and onto his torso, Wonwoo’s slender frame easily being engulfed by Mingyu’s rough hands. Wonwoo rolled his head back, Mingyu utilizing that distraction to pull Wonwoo down back onto his lap again the older tall automatically rolled his hips, causing both of them to twitch at the sensation.

“Fuck, Wonwoo.” Mingyu hissed, letting his mouth fall away from Wonwoo’s chest, easily allowing his body to fall back onto the sheets. The simple action of their erections grinding had made his head spin and Mingyu was definitely not far from being a hot mess. Wonwoo planned on using that to his advantage.

“Mingyu you said you never slept with anyone but did you- you know-” He spoke in a rushed manner as he shuffled his legs down the bed so he was now resting on either side of Mingyu’s knees.

“get a blowjob?”

Mingyu moaned at the word. Blood rushing to his head, if just the mention of such a thing was enough to drive him crazy, then what on earth would happen if he agreed to this? All Mingyu managed to do was shake his head, Wonwoo taking a moment for Mingyu to try and work his head around it before he pressed on.

“If you want me to stop, just say.” Wonwoo remitted, moving his hands to unzip Mingyu’s jeans. He was teasingly slow, but Mingyu didn’t know if that was in his own mind or if Wonwoo was doing it on purpose.

“It’s more like once you start, I’m never going to want you to stop.” Mingyu writhed in an attempt to try and get Wonwoo to move quicker, but actually Wonwoo paused for a minute. Mingyu looked down his body to see Wonwoo looking back with hunger in his eyes, and a hint of mischief.

“Let’s keep that momentum going, shall we?” With a quick pull, aided by Mingyu raising his hips, his pants and underwear were pulled to his knees. Mingyu gasping in a mix of relief of being freed but also the cold air hitting the heat of his erection, and also the tense feeling of knowing what Wonwoo wanted to do with it. He couldn’t wait.

Wonwoo’s heart was racing, but not wanting to be hasty he leaned back up, over Mingyu’s stomach as he slowly kissed down towards his hips.

“Ah fuck, come on, that’s not fair.” Mingyu moaned loudly, hearing a ‘shh’ sound from Wonwoo who, thanks to Mingyu’s complaining, retracted his trail of kisses above his belly button again.

Wonwoo waited a minute, Mingyu definitely internally screaming the entire time but that didn’t sway the older boy who simply waited for Mingyu’s breaths to become more regular and settled. He didn’t want him getting too excited right away.

Finally he resumed. Kissing down until his pubic bone, stopping his breath short of anything more he had to think. Wonwoo was barely more skilled than Mingyu, in fact he swore it had been so long that he could probably call this his first time again too, but he definitely had more confidence than Mingyu in what he was supposed to do. Wetting his lips Wonwoo pulled himself back a little and used a hand to steady Mingyu’s dick before he slowly parted his lips down his shaft.

“Oh fuck.” Mingyu spoke with all the pleasure in the world, dropping his head back as far as it could go, letting his hands tangle in the bed sheets once more as Wonwoo came to a standstill half way down his cock.

Mingyu caught his breath. He was quickly learning that whenever Wonwoo stopped it was it get Mingyu to silently listen; to get him to calm down or remind himself of his breathing, or something along those similar lines. And he did just that. Gulping oxygen back down into his lungs he released his hands from the sheets, letting them rest at his sides instead. Finally Wonwoo continued.

Bobbing his head up and down, he kept the pace slow and lax. He didn’t need to do anything special, it was Mingyu’s first time and anything overly stimulating would ultimately end in him feeling extremely upset at himself for ‘messing up’. Not like Wonwoo would care, he was loving the feeling of Mingyu writhing to his touch. Feeling his stomach muscles tense as he tried to control himself, how he tried to stop his hips from spiking up if Wonwoo went a bit too low on him. Letting his tongue lap up one side of him until his lips met up the top one more time, Wonwoo allowed his hand to do some of the work for a change.

“You’re so good at that.” Mingyu moaned, his hand reaching for something and Wonwoo realized he was searching for him. Letting their fingers interlock with his free hand as the other slicked over Mingyu’s member he couldn’t help but think of Mingyu on himself.

“It’ll be you too, soon.” He complimented, listening to Mingyu’s moans become stronger as he picked up the pace. It was a beautiful sight to have Mingyu underneath him, whimpering at his touch and wanting him more and more, eventually Mingyu plucked up the courage to ask just that.

“Can we-” He gulped, suddenly his stomach tensing with nerves once more and Wonwoo slowed his actions down.

”Can you-” Wonwoo could almost read his mind, he didn’t need to use key words to be understood anymore. Wonwoo completely stopped, not wanting his judgement to be clouded anymore than it probably already was, once again shuffling just a little further down Mingyu’s legs.

“Are you sure?” He asked, the underlying seriousness of his tone making Mingyu sit up also, which shocked Wonwoo just as much as it probably did Mingyu.

“We don’t have to.”

“I want to.” Mingyu instantly replied, the sudden answer made Wonwoo’s heart jump and chest constrict. He was really serious about this.

Wonwoo leaned back over to him, kissing him lightly as he worked to totally rid Mingyu of his bottom half clothes. Mingyu was helping, kicking his jeans over his ankles when they reached that far, Mingyu now being totally undressed Wonwoo leaned more weight on to him to make him lie back down, slightly on his side. Wonwoo moved, attaching his lips to Mingyu’s chest before jumping to his stomach, Mingyu now totally relaxed whenever Wonwoo did such a thing, even as Wonwoo kissed his hips. He watch intently as Wonwoo moved to kiss his dick too before moving even more south.

Now he was nervous. Everything so far had been out of Mingyu’s depth but Wonwoo had been there. Almost like they were doing it all together but now suddenly Wonwoo felt so far away and Mingyu felt left alone. Wonwoo brace himself around one of Mingyu’s thighs, spreading it just slightly further apart than Mingyu was used to.

“Are you still sure?” He confirmed again, moving to kiss the inside of Mingyu’s thigh which he was holding onto. The angle Mingyu was on pretty much forced him to look down at Wonwoo the entire time, and whilst it was beautiful to see such a handsome guy between his thighs, it was also quiet terrifying. He forgot to answer.

Wonwoo gave him a moment, tongue working circles on his thigh as the other reached up to stroke Mingyu’s cock, almost like a sign as reassurance that if he didn’t want to do this, Wonwoo would not let him down, and that relaxed him. He managed to moan a small ‘yeah’ which was all Wonwoo needed to go ahead, pulling his hand from Mingyu’s dick into his own mouth to cover a finger in saliva.

“Just the one first, okay?” Wonwoo’s voice was low, trying to mask his own desire to do this, to give Mingyu whatever pleasure he could, and even that tone in his voice made Mingyu moan. Slowly Wonwoo moved to push his finger into Mingyu.

It felt strange, definitely uncomfortable and unfamiliar, and Mingyu now saw why Wonwoo had wrapped an arm around his thigh because he definitely would’ve tried to close his legs otherwise. He closed his eyes tightly. Was this meant to feel good?

“You’ve got to relax.” Wonwoo spoke, Mingyu hearing the words clearly and remembering what Wonwoo was making him practice before. Wonwoo waited patiently. Mingyu making a concious effort to untighten his eyes, focus on his breathing until he became relaxed. He started feeling the difference, and so did Wonwoo.

“There’s a good boy.” He complimented, now pushing his long digit all the way inside, Mingyu let out a long, deep moan.

“That’s better.” Wonwoo praised, giving Mingyu a moment to adjust before he began moving. The sensation was completely weird at first, Mingyu allowing his head to drop and kept his eyes closed as Wonwoo moved his finger slowly inside of him. Every so often a small ripple of pleasure knotting in his stomach, but it wasn’t near as much as what he had experienced so far today.

“Now for a second one, okay?” Wonwoo announced, always making sure Mingyu was up to date on his actions, hoping that it would help.

“That was only one?” Mingyu tried to laugh, groaning a little as Wonwoo slid out. He had to say, he now felt a little empty, maybe the constant tiny ripples of pleasure were better than nothing as Wonwoo working on slicking up a second finger. Mingyu felt him remove his hand from his thigh.

“Keep your leg there, okay?” Wonwoo’s voice was almost delicate when he asked Mingyu, so of course he obliged. This time Wonwoo reached around to stroke Mingyu’s dick slowly as he began to insert two fingers into him.

This time had Mingyu biting his lip, Wonwoo instantly pausing his fingers but continuing to pump up and down his shaft until Mingyu let out his pent-up breath. Wonwoo checking with him before continuing.

“You’re doing so well, just keep breathing.” He reassured him once more before pushing in once more.

The gasp Mingyu let out was loud. Definitely shock and pleasure mixed in there but he didn’t know to what ratio but soon it didn’t matter as Wonwoo twisted his hand around Mingyu’s cock in a different manner than before, instantly making him yell out a moan and throw his head back.

“Fuck!” Wonwoo using that wave of pleasure to mask the uncomfortable feeling of scissoring him open.

Mingyu was a mess, unable to concentrate on his breathing for a long enough time but the flicker of pain between waves of pleasure between more and more distant. Wonwoo noticing that with every right movement Mingyu tried to roll his hips into the sensation which caused Wonwoo’s fingers to move inside of him, Mingyu was practically creating his own pleasure and nearly all Wonwoo needed to do was watch.

“Fuck I could sit here and watch you all day.” He commented out loud. Mingyu now losing himself in another moan as Wonwoo decided to step it up a bit, moving his fingers in and out of his ass at a high pace than before suddenly that made Mingyu lose it and he curled his chest over onto the bed.

Wonwoo was forced to let go of Mingyu’s cock for comfort. Mingyu now lying half on his side with his ass presented to Wonwoo, angled up slightly more than the rest of his body. God he wanted to fuck him so bad. Mingyu trying to mask his moans into the sheets as he hands clawed into them once more but this time there were no nerves involved.

Wonwoo pumped away, Mingyu definitely used to two fingers by now as every so often he tried to jut his hips into Wonwoo’s hand. The awkward angle making it mostly impossible but it didn’t stop Mingyu from writhing under Wonwoo’s touch every time.

“Oh please, Wonwoo just-” Mingyu began to cry into the sheets, catching Wonwoo’s attention he slowed down his actions, which made Mingyu cried out again but this time in despair.

“Just what?” Wonwoo pushed him, wanting the audible confirmation before doing anything.

“Anything. I don’t care what you have to do, just please. Please fuck me, please.” He begged so hard Wonwoo thought he was going to explode right there and then. Those words completely setting off that last latch of self-control Wonwoo had kept this entire time as he instantly pulled his fingers away from Mingyu to undo his own jeans as fast as he could.

Mingyu sighed heavily. The sudden lack of sensation making him want to scream as he gained the energy to lift up his head to check what Wonwoo was doing. It was perfect timing because as he did so Wonwoo was heading for him, leaning in for a passionate kiss which made Mingyu turn onto his back, setting his legs either side Wonwoo in the process.

Their kiss was full of lust, messy and with clashing teeth but neither of them cared as Wonwoo straightened Mingyu’s hips to align with his own. Mingyu’s breath shuddered, the anticipation; he felt as if he was going to cum instantly. But god, he didn’t want to. He had lasted this long and he wanted to last longer; for Wonwoo. Wonwoo who, this entire time, had been totally unselfish and given Mingyu every desire he could’ve asked him too. Wonwoo he was setting up to take Mingyu’s virginity.

He knew it was going to hurt. But there was no running away from it. Wonwoo pushing his cock into Mingyu felt the younger boy’s fingertips dig into his back in pain, so he waited.

“Just go.” Mingyu begged, taking heavy breaths in an attempt to get himself used to the size quickly. Wonwoo wanted to wait, but after waiting so long he patience was thin and he conceded, pushing fully into Mingyu, Wonwoo let out a deep moan as his head dropped into the nook of Mingyu’s neck.

He stayed there for a minute, not moving, barely breathing. He didn’t even know if he could go on himself without cumming there and then. Wonwoo trying his own tricks he had taught Mingyu as he picked himself back up to look down at Mingyu. He couldn’t control himself, losing himself in another kiss seemed to be the only way he thought he could distract himself enough to start moving. Mingyu’s hand combing through Wonwoo’s hair and running down his back in an attempt to ground himself, Wonwoo was moaning heavily into the kiss.

It didn’t get easier. With it being Mingyu’s first time he was so tight, and the nerves made it worse as Wonwoo pulled half out to plough straight back in again, the sensation causing Mingyu to throw his head back finally in pleasure as Wonwoo used that as he method.

Hard, heavy strokes. Fucking into Mingyu deeply each time Wonwoo’s breath become staggered and broken between moans. Wonwoo perched himself centimeters from Mingyu’s lips, the exchange of hot air between them making it harder to breath which upped their pleasure as Wonwoo slammed hard in him again. Mingyu closing his eyes tightly as he hips rolled up to meet Wonwoo. He would watch him all day like this.

Wonwoo stayed watching Mingyu, Mingyu who rarely opened his eyes except for when an intense feeling ran through his core making his head roll back, a couple of time Wonwoo taking advantage of that situation to steal kisses on his neck. The moans from Mingyu reverberating through body of their bodies heavily as Wonwoo felt himself nearing his peak.

“Fuck, Mingyu.” He cursed, biting his lip heavily as he thrusted into him again. This time it was uncoordinated, losing rhythm as he own pleasure hit sky high he was so close to losing it until Mingyu took one of Wonwoo’s hands, clasping his fingers through it and letting their hands entwine on the pillow next to Mingyu’s head. Wonwoo smiled. He think he loved Mingyu, right there in that very second.

Wonwoo’s pace slowed down, moving more fluidly now as Mingyu was completely used to him, Wonwoo leaning in to kiss Mingyu once more, this time chaste and slow. Making love. The change made Mingyu groan happily into the kiss, Wonwoo quickly separating their hands in order to take his hand down to Mingyu’s cock in order to stroke it.

“Fuck, what are you doing-” Mingyu gasped, his hips jolting up and down, out of control as Wonwoo picked up the pace for a final time. Almost laughing through his smile as he could tell this was going to send Mingyu over the edge.

“I’m going to make you cum.” He blantenly told him, the straightforwardness of his answer causing Mingyu to moan uncontrollably. Arching himself into Wonwoo’s hand as much as possible whilst at the same time trying to meet with Wonwoo’s thrusts. It was a losing battle, all of the air getting caught-up in Mingyu’s chest one more time as he became utterly silent before cumming. Unleashing himself all over his own stomach before dropping heavily onto Wonwoo’s bed. Finally the air released his lungs, the smallest steam of moans following his mess as he was just so tired suddenly, Wonwoo quickly working his way to match Mingyu as he continued to thrust into him.

Mingyu tried, honestly he did, his hands attempting to reach up to hold Wonwoo, trying to raise his hips but honestly he was so drained. Wonwoo finished not far behind, thrusting heavily a couple of times before releasing a low, shuddering moan whilst panting into Mingyu’s shoulder. Resting there for a moment before pulling out of Mingyu, the younger boy shuddered at the sensation before Wonwoo dropped next to him.

Mingyu instantly turned to look at him. Planting kisses on his lips a couple of times as Wonwoo caught his breath, he still gladly returned every kiss, smiling and eventually laughing at how affectionate he was being.

“So it was okay then?” Wonwoo asked, hoping that the pleasure had overridden the pain enough for him to enjoy it. Mingyu’s arms wrapped over Wonwoo, who was still sweaty and clammy. Eyes roaming over him fully for what was really the first real time he had seen him naked, he noticed Wonwoo was totally comfortable that he wasn’t even thinking about his scar.

“The best.” Mingyu tiredly replied,

“Definitely worth waiting for.”


	21. Chapter 21

Mingyu didn’t remember falling asleep. He didn’t remember how he arm came to be wrapped around Wonwoo’s half-naked body whilst he was still fully unclothed. He didn’t remember Wonwoo unwrapping himself from his grip either to go downstairs whilst telling him he has family breakfast every Sunday morning, because if he did, he probably would’ve tried to sneak out of the window at least.

But no, all those things had slipped his mind as he walked into what could be a mine field, Wonwoo’s wide eyes giving away the fact he was extremely shocked at Mingyu’s ‘boldness’ even though his face was trying to convince his parents and younger brother otherwise.

“Good morning, Mingyu. Sleep well?” Wonwoo’s dad nodded, taking a nonchalant sip of his morning coffee as suddenly Mingyu realized what he just walked into.

“Good morning...” He replied unsurely, suddenly gained a quick shot of a stare from Wonwoo which seemed to jump start him into life.

“Sir, ma’am.” He bowed his head a little to each parent respectively.

“Drop the formalities, Mingyu!” Wonwoo’s mom laughed a little. It caused Mingyu to raise his head and finally look at the table. They really did look like a real family. All sat around the table, breakfast in front of them. Mingyu wondered what that was like... He hadn’t had ‘family breakfast’ since he lived at his grandma’s, and he couldn’t remember it being a particularly happy time.

Wonwoo sat with a glass of orange juice in his hand, clutching onto it to try and steady his nerves by the looks of it.

“Remember, you can call me Mrs. Jeon.” She finished before turning to her son to take his empty breakfast plate.

“...For now.” Wonwoo’s mother smiled down to him.

That was it. Definitely a sign to leave as quickly as possible, even Wonwoo had to control himself from choking on his juice as he tried to stand up to leave the table.

“You should join us!” Wonwoo’s dad joined in, Wonwoo trying to contain his choking cough by waving his hands at his father’s suggestion, but Mingyu really didn’t need that to get the message.

“I-I should go- actually- thanks though ma’am- miss- I mean Mrs. Jeon.” Mingyu crazily stuttered, gripping to almost everything except the table on the way out, closely followed by Wonwoo behind him. Reaching the door they both stepped outside into the well-needed fresh air, closing the door behind them.

“Do they know we-” Slept together? Mingyu spat out in nervousness.

“Maybe.” Wonwoo answered before he finished.

“And do they think that we’re- Dating?"

“Probably.”

The two boys stared at each other for some time, Mingyu wondering if he should say something. Wonwoo was just as quick not to confirm if they were dating just as much as he was apparently, and that’s exactly why Mingyu didn’t want to say anything. Was this just... fun? It definitely felt more than that. But then again Mingyu had no experience of actual relationships, with feelings involved. SO maybe... Not saying anything was actually better? Everything was so confusing.

“I should... get going.” Mingyu nodded in the direction of his car. There was no argument from Wonwoo as he took a step away.

“See you tomorrow?” Mingyu asked, wow Monday had arrived so quickly and now his stomach was churning for an entirely different reason. He had no idea what he would be walking into at school. Would Seungcheol and the rest of his friends still hate him? What about everyone else at the party? What did they all think of him? And of course his mom, he didn’t come home last night. What would she be thinking? She knew Mingyu was going to Wonwoo’s, but to stay overnight? He didn’t even know what he was thinking! Suddenly a million doubts rushed into his head.

He shouldn’t have rushed to Wonwoo’s yesterday after a fight with his friends. Heck, thinking back on it, he should never have gotten to know him! All this time and now Mingyu was just feeling like a game to Wonwoo, like he didn’t even care and he had just used him. Just... taken his virginity and thrown him back out there with no meaning. Mingyu had no idea whether or not Wonwoo ever gave a reply to see him tomorrow as his feet had already begun to move the football star back towards his car.

“Wait-” Wonwoo said as he reached out to pull Mingyu by the arm. The taller boy being lost in thought didn’t even realize Wonwoo had said anything to him as he pulled away to leave, only to be stopped by some force pulling him back.

“What?” Turning quickly to see what it was, he was met his Wonwoo’s lips against his own. It was nothing special, just a quick kiss lasting maybe seconds but it definitely put a lot of doubt out of Mingyu’s mind. Wonwoo did care. A smile sneaking onto Mingyu’s face made Wonwoo smile back to him.

“See you tomorrow.”

The next day arriving to school, Mingyu was nervous. The whole weekend had passed without a single message from his friends. Sure the group chat had been casually busy but it always was. Even without Mingyu... It was unsettling. Even walking through the parking lot without seeing them wait for him... He felt like they definitely hated him now.

Entering home room he saw them, and Mingyu was fully prepared to hang his head and sit at his desk until the end of class. Even Wonwoo was already in his seat, opposite side of the classroom but he could tell his ears practically pricked up when he entered. God he wished he could just walk over and sit with him instead, right now.

“Hey Gyu.” Seungcheol called out. Pain hitting Mingyu’s chest in fear; what would he have to say to him? The next thing he knew his friend’s hand was comfortably swinging around his back. Just like old times.

“Where did you go Saturday?”

“Yeah, we went to your house but your mom said you were out.” Soonyoung explained. Mingyu would have to thank his mom later for not giving away any details. Mingyu looked up at his friends. Concerned expressions, even Seungcheol was radiating a sad vibe somehow which was extremely rare.

“I was at my grandma’s” He lied. His eyes wanting to dart over to Wonwoo to check his reaction but he had no time to give anything away to his friends.

“She wanted to give me money for my birthday, so I just stayed there. Overnight.” The lies just kept mounting up. It wasn’t unusual for Mingyu but now... they felt almost wrong to say. Was that guilt? Finally did he develop guilt?

His friends looked at his for a moment. Mingyu getting anxious at the no reply at first until Minghao spoke.

“You could’ve answered the group chat.”

“I was … mad.” Mingyu admitted. He actually felt stupid for saying it. Like Wonwoo had pointed out, they stopped his from doing an incredibly stupid thing so in all honesty he had no right to be mad at them really... Except that was exactly how he felt. Strangely enough his friends even sympathized with that.

“I know, that’s why we went to your house, bro.” Seungcheol said.

“We wanted to apologize for you hating your own party.” Soonyoung continued.

“We all felt really bad after it. Seungcheol kept saying all night about how bad he felt for making you think he was using you.” Minghao explained, and Mingyu’s eyes latched onto Seungcheol.

“Yeah... Sorry.” He said.

“No man, no don’t worry.” Mingyu instantly tried to clear up. He didn’t enjoy tension or confrontation, especially not with his friends.

“It was all... a misunderstanding, yeah?”

“We’re you’re friends, Mingyu.” Jihoon butted into the soft turning moment.

“We’re just trying to look out for you.”

Class quickly started and everyone took their seats. Mingyu once again feeling comfortable with his friends, but a quick glance over to Wonwoo suddenly shoved that happy feeling away. He seemed tense. Had he been like that since he walked in? His mind was suddenly blocked, he couldn’t remember. The moment the class finished, Mingyu pulled his phone out to text him.

_Mingyu_   
_Are you busy? Free to talk? 9.50am_

_Wonwoo_   
_I can’t today. I have AP finals in 3 weeks... really need to study. 9.51am_

Wow... Wonwoo actually turned him down. It actually worried him. Did Saturday really not matter after all? His mind was about to go into overdrive.

_Wonwoo_   
_Meet me in the library at lunch time. 9.53am_

The time until then seemed to drag. He spent some classes with his friends thankfully. Being able to cement over that bridge from the night of his party, it was nice to see them putting effort into this for once. Mingyu had always felt that for the longest time; He gave so much effort into becoming a person his friends would want to hang out with, being somebody his mom could be proud of. He put so much pressure on himself to be ‘someone’ that in reality he was very different from the captain everyone saw on the field. He wanted to say that out of everyone, Wonwoo knew him best, but even there was murky water he couldn’t see through.

Finally the lunch bell rang, Mingyu gathered his bags and snuck off to the library. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been here. Maybe sophomore year? Even since then nothing had changed. Mahogany brown shelves paved into small aisles, a dull gray carpet to mask the dust on the floor. Despite the rest of the school looking pretty up to date, the library seemed to be stuck a few decades ago. Now he remembered why he didn’t like coming here. The silence was uncomfortable. Kind of like ASMR without the whispering. And Mingyu hated ASMR. There was something unnerving about silence which was only broken by a low cough of the throat or a book turning a page. Silence had the opposite effect on Mingyu’s mind, it sent him into overdrive. He lingered down each aisle with anxious eyes until finally he saw Wonwoo sat at a study desk alone.

Mingyu, for once in his life, didn’t speak as he approached Wonwoo. Maybe it was the effect of the library environment... or maybe it was the fact he was suddenly nervous around him once more. Ever since the weekend honestly Wonwoo was all he could think about. And if he didn’t before, then it was worse now. Something felt different. He couldn’t place what it was just yet though.

Sitting down beside Wonwoo, the older boy didn’t flinch at all. Mingyu stared at him for a moment. Wonwoo always seemed so peaceful and relaxed, but this morning he definitely didn’t. It was such a contrast to now, where he sat with his neck craned down to look at a book resting on the table. Mingyu didn’t realize a few minutes had passed without any words being spoken, and only him staring at Wonwoo like this. It was comfortable, like he could do it all day, which reminded him that Wonwoo for two minutes wasn’t even going to meet him.

“How come you didn’t want to meet at our usual place?” Mingyu asked quietly, that issue quickly rising in his mind and spilling onto his tongue.

Wonwoo took a minute. Finishing reading the page he was on before flicking over to the next to finish the sentence too, he didn’t look up to Mingyu as he answered.

“Because... We might be seen, that’s all.”

That definitely made no sense to Mingyu. Since when was Wonwoo concerned about that at all?

“That wasn’t a problem before.” This time Wonwoo’s reply to that was quicker.

“Well before we weren’t-” He paused. That break in the sentence causing Mingyu’s heart to leap into his throat for a second before Wonwoo continued.

“This serious.”

That made Mingyu’s head spin. They were serious? Sure he had thought that for a while, but hearing Wonwoo say it suddenly made it feel serious too. He sat there for a moment, Wonwoo’s eyes finally wandering over to Mingyu as if to check his reaction, and he probably wished he hadn’t. The taller boy sat with a shocked expression until he could finally speak again.

“So... are we together?” He managed to spit out. It would’ve been Wonwoo’s turn to be shocked by such a statement if Mingyu cared enough to look right now. But he was too enveloped in getting his own words across. How exactly did you ask someone if you had been dating this entire time or not? Mingyu was about to throw some words together and find out.

“I’ve been thinking this for months, I just never wanted to ask because you know” He paused once again. By this time he had Wonwoo’s full attention. The slender boy turning to look at Mingyu more, which in return made Mingyu more nervous. He was going so well on his roll of words that now he found himself stumbling to finish.

“It’s my first time liking someone like you.”

“You mean a boy?” Wonwoo replied instantly. It earned a crack of Mingyu’s neck as he looked around the vicinity of the library to check no one else heard, even though Wonwoo whispered it.

“Well, uh, I-” He fumbled once more, his mouth moving but no words following. By this point Mingyu was wringing his hands together nervously as Wonwoo had turned fully to face him.

“You’re going to have to get used to saying it Mingyu.” Wonwoo sounded firm as he spoke, even if it voice was low so no one else could hear him.

“If you like boys-”

“I don’t like boys, I just like you”

“And I’m a boy” Wonwoo definitely had him there. It took a moment for Mingyu to try and think how to overcome that.

“Yes, but-” Mingyu began but a sigh from Wonwoo’s lips interrupted him.

“It’s fine, I get it.” Wonwoo said, those words sending an odd wave of relief over Mingyu but also... guilt? He wanted to desperately for it just to be ‘that easy’. So he could just walk around with Wonwoo and nobody would say a thing. Really, why should it matter anyway? But he was also thankful he understood still.

“It’s hard to come out in school. Especially in senior year. Your friends will judge you.”

That made Mingyu move in his seat.

“Why would they judge me?” He asked. Gaining silence from Wonwoo made Mingyu feel uneasy once more. There were plenty of people who could judge Mingyu. All of his ‘ex girlfriends’, the people he shared classes with. But his friends? They should be the most accepting, right?

“What makes you say that?” Mingyu probed further. Finally Wonwoo had to reply.

“It’s just something that happens” He brushed off. Giving Mingyu a small shrug as he finally turned back to book. Mingyu’s eyes stayed stuck on him.

“Yeah but we’ve been friends for years. I trust those guys with my life.” Mingyu semi-ranted on. Really, Wonwoo didn’t know these guys at all! Why would he think they would judge him? Cast him side after so many years together? He wanted to prove Wonwoo wrong with that. Argue and stick up for his friends.

“Then you mustn’t think much of yourself.” It was practically a mutter, something Mingyu almost missed as he got wrapped up in his own thoughts about how he was going to argue that his friends are good people, that they had been by his side for so long and they always had fun together. But... Wonwoo’s words were not the type of argument Mingyu was expecting.

You mustn’t think much of yourself. He thought about it. What did Mingyu think of himself? He was kind... right? Loyal, friendly... The personality traits suddenly seemed to be minimal because all he could think to list himself as was what he had achieved. Football captain, a full scholarship, a total playboy with ladies and a guy who attended the best parties. Everything was so superficial and then he realized. He really didn’t think much of himself at all.

His mind flashed back to the night of his party. When he accused his friends of only liking him for their own selfish reasons. They never mentioned how nice of a person Mingyu was when they introduced him, they talked about his success. Things that would make him look good, that in return would make them look good. In fact, the only person who ever told him he was a good person was his mom... And Wonwoo. That totally fried out Mingyu’s brain, and Wonwoo could tell. The heavy sound of a book closing brought Mingyu back to life.

“I need to go to the science lab actually.” Wonwoo said. Putting the book back in his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. “I have some lab work I need to see the results of.” He was anxious to make a quick getaway but Mingyu’s voice stopped him.

“Wait, you didn’t answer me question.” Mingyu stayed seated as he asked. Wonwoo turned back to look at him.

“Are we a thing?”

Yet again another silence. A ball creeping into Mingyu’s throat at the lack of answer once more. Did that mean no? Did Wonwoo just not want to put him out of his misery? He had no idea.

“Let’s talk about that after finals.”

 


	22. Chapter 22

The week before finals was usually when most students crammed for their exams. But for Mingyu it meant something a little different. It was the team’s regional final game. The biggest game of his high school career. It didn’t matter by now, what the outcome was, but he still cared. For his future team members who could eventually go to nationals if they won this game. Mingyu still couldn’t believe they had gotten this far, and with him as captain. And now they were only a few hours away from their high school careers ending and their college football lives taking off.

He had begged Wonwoo to come.

_‘It’s my last game as a high school student. Ever. Please come!’ He repeated over and over until Wonwoo was worn down enough to give in. So as he walked out on to the field he knew that somewhere among the many eyes that Wonwoo was watching him. And that definitely gave him a kick._

_‘If you win, I’ll give you a reward’ Wonwoo told him. It caused Mingyu to become excited in many ways._

_‘What kind of reward?’ He asked back, cosying up to Wonwoo on the bed they studied on. Wonwoo closed the gap, not enough to kiss but enough to make Mingyu’s breath falter in hopes of a kiss._

_‘You’ll see.’_

Honestly if the game wasn’t important, Mingyu would still want to win for that reward. He didn’t care what it was, just as long as it had something to do with Wonwoo. So he played. He played well, scoring touchdowns and assisting. It was a beautiful display of teamwork, especially beside one of his best friends. So of course they won with ease.

“Excellent job, captain!” People cheered for Mingyu in the changing room. It was a celebration beyond anything they had known to host in that room and as far as anyone cared, it was all thanks to him. He couldn’t stop smiling either. The perfect end to a perfect year, right? Throwing his uniform into his bag, wrapped in a towel at his waist still he reached for his locker to pull out his clothes.

“What a way to end the year, huh?” Seungcheol’s voice rang. He wandered over to Mingyu who couldn’t help but smirk comfortably at his friend’s words. Seungcheol came to stand next to him.

“Not only did we win, we took the team to national preliminaries next year.” Turns out for once Seungcheol had the same thinking as Mingyu.

“Anything for the team.” Mingyu agreed. He pulled his phone from the locker. Checking it immediately he noticed a new message.

_Wonwoo new msg_

Seungcheol was stood close by, giving Mingyu a little anxiety. So he covered the message by folding his clothes over his arm and closing his locker whilst his phone was still in his hand.

_Wonwoo_   
_Meet me in the parking lot 8pm for your reward. 7.09pm_

That gave him just under an hour to try and shake Seungcheol, who Mingyu knew would want to celebrate this historic event together.

“Tonight we party!” Seungcheol roared over the locker room. It earned an instant reply with similar shouts of satisfaction from everyone except Mingyu who turned back to his locker to get dressed. Pulling a t-shirt over his head he did his best to try and ignore Seungcheol, but of course he wasn’t going to let it go that easily.

“And of course out captain will be head of the table tonight!” He announced once more, this time Mingyu gently shook him off.

“Not tonight, I have plans.” That sentence almost knocked Seungcheol off his feet in shock. And it showed as he suddenly leaned over Mingyu’s shoulder as he continued to get dressed.

“Wait- what? What do you mean you ‘have plans’?” He asked seriously, tone dropping so only Mingyu could hear him. For a second, Mingyu didn’t answer.

“You’ve known about this day for weeks! You knew we were going to celebrate whatever the result, you can’t just say you have other plans!”

“Sorry man.” Mingyu shrugged, smiling in consolation.

“I just can’t tonight! Tomorrow night? One day won’t make a big difference.”

That definitely didn’t make Seungcheol feel better.

“Who you are putting before the team, huh?” He probed, Mingyu doing his best to keep a straight face and act unbothered by his intimidating tone.

“It better be some fucking superstar porn model or something-”

“God man, can you stop?” Mingyu quickly struck him down.

“It’s my mom, okay? It’s- It’s her one night off and we promised to get dinner.”

“Where?”

Mingyu’s heart jumped. Seungcheol was really... really questioning him on all of this.

“Some Italian place, you know how she loves that kind of food.” He lied again. Seungcheol seemed to be subdued by it. But subdued didn’t mean happy as he turned off without another word, walking to the end of the locker room before turning back.

“Tomorrow, bet?” He pointed down, Mingyu noticing a small turn of his friend’s lips, so he knew he couldn’t really be too mad with him right now.

“Bet.”

Mingyu managed to waste time. Getting dressed and playing around on his phone until it neared 8pm, Seungcheol asked why he wasn’t leaving to go home already.

“Remember you picked me up, idiot?” Mingyu laughed.

“My mom is coming about eight. I’ll just wait here until she calls.” Once again Seungcheol was subdued into belief. He left without much more to be said, other than once again confirming with Mingyu that they were going to celebrate the next day and of course Mingyu gave him the right answer. 7.55pm. Time for Mingyu to walk to the parking lot.

There were a few cars dotted around still. All empty. He swear he never saw most of these cars move even during the summer they were all here. He began to think if they were abandoned by ex-students. He saw no other reason as to why these cars would be here outside of school hours unless of course you were Wonwoo and you were waiting for Mingyu.

He spotted him easily. Knowing his car off by heart but of course he noticed Wonwoo stood waiting for him close by. Leather jacket even with the warming weather. These days he understood why Wonwoo disliked the heat so much. He definitely never dressed for it. Black skinny jeans once more and some kind of printed t-shirt with an obscure picture on it, Mingyu definitely couldn’t contain his smile with how good Wonwoo was looking. The darkening sky, spring nights were still more gloomy than summer but definitely better than winter. By this time is was navy with a hint of orange sunset somewhere in the distance.

“So we won.” Mingyu boasted, smirking half-sidedly as he approached Wonwoo, only to gain a small smirk back himself.

“I know.” The simply reply. Wonwoo walked around to the driver’s side of the car. For a moment Mingyu just watched.

“Get in.”

He obeyed, wandering over to pull the passenger side door open and climbing in. The pair sat there for a second before Mingyu looked around as to why they weren’t moving.

“So where are we going?” He asked curiously, noticing that Wonwoo hadn’t even put his seatbelt on yet.

“Nowhere.” The answer came, and before Mingyu had a moment to be confused as to why they were in a car then he got the real answer.

Without warning Wonwoo slung his body on top of Mingyu’s. Lightweight and long he had no problem with placing a leg either side of the passenger seat to encase Mingyu between him, lips automatically connecting in the fluid movement. It took Mingyu maybe thirty seconds to return the kiss due to the pure shock of what just happened still sinking in his system, but before he knew it tongue were exchanged and his hands easily found the rim of Wonwoo’s shirt to start tugging at it.

It was hot. It was fumbling hands as Wonwoo grinded his hips against Mingyu who in return pressed his fingertips into Wonwoo’s hips in order to aid him with the movements. Moans lost between mouths as Wonwoo’s hands began to slide down Mingyu’s chest, straight to his jeans where he fought to unbutton them. Mingyu’s mind was definitely spinning, was this his reward? He definitely should’ve suggested rewards as a part of studying too, he thought.

They continued to work against each other, Wonwoo toying around with Mingyu through his underwear, teasing and playing which made Mingyu finally throw his head back as he couldn’t contain himself anymore. That only gave Wonwoo access to his neck as he moved to place heavy kisses against his skin, Mingyu free to moan out loud as he pleased now. And also feel to listen.

“I can’t believe you dragged us back here.” Faint talking in the distance. Mingyu didn’t register it instantly, way too sucked into the moment as Wonwoo leaned down into his collarbone, sucking against the skin to leave a small mark. Blood rushed to Mingyu’s ears but suddenly laughter from outside the car totally pulled that sensation away as panic overtook it.

“I forgot my wallet, alright, so sue me!” Fuck that voice was familiar. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Suddenly Mingyu’s hands rushed up to Wonwoo’s chest. But not in the way either of them wanted as Mingyu pushed him back.

“What-” Wonwoo half dazed said.

“Do you hear that?”

Wonwoo sat up straight, hands removing themselves from Mingyu altogether as he listened intently... and finally heard the voices.

“Shit.”

Panic hit both of their faces. If Wonwoo recognized those voices then Mingyu definitely did. His friends. Mingyu looked up to Wonwoo, almost as if he was begging him to do something. Anything. The two of them in a car like this together meant so much they couldn’t explain without everything falling apart. Mingyu was terrified. And Wonwoo could feel it. So he did the only thing he thought he could do. He pulled the sides of his jacket up, encasing himself and Mingyu inside of it, leaving them in sheer darkness in hopes that the outsiders would pass them by and not notice.

“Yeah he said he’s having dinner with his mom.” Seungcheol told the other friends. Minghao, Soonyoung, and Jihoon followed in tow of their bigger friend.

“How lame!” Jihoon laughed,

“If I had a choice between a party and my parents I’d choose- Hey isn’t that Wonwoo’s car?” He changed mid-sentence. Bringing the groups attention to the green car parked in the middle of the lot. The group tilted their head as they looked.

“Yeah I think it is.” Soonyoung inclined to agree.

“Huh, weird. Doesn’t he live like, super far away?” Seungcheol asked, earning an agreeing tone from them all as they approached from a distance, only for Seungcheol to burst out suddenly.

“HEY THERE’S SOMEONE IN IT!”

Absolute terror hit Mingyu. He felt like he was going to puke. He couldn’t control his breathing, he was practically pre-panic attack. He just wanted to run away but if he moved then they would definitely see him and it would end his life.

“Just breathe.” Wonwoo muttered under his breath. Mingyu latched his eyes onto Wonwoo’s. He couldn’t tell what Wonwoo was feeling. He was way too caught up himself, but he sensed something in Wonwoo. Something that was also like fear but wasn’t as erratic as Mingyu’s. Mingyu’s mind was still racing, the older boy’s words didn’t sink in at all, so he repeated them.

“Just breathe. In...and out.” Wonwoo spoke like a whisper, and slowly. Mingyu began to listen. Eyes never betraying him as he continued to stare at Wonwoo, trying to focus on his breathing as he heard loud voices and footsteps approach the car.

“Whoa would you look at that!?” Seungcheol chortled as they approached. Jihoon leaned in to pull at the handle of the door as Seungcheol lead the witch hunt. The sound of the lock hitting the chamber making Mingyu screw his eyes shut; if he couldn’t see them, then they couldn’t see him. His breathing sped up again.

“Is Wonwoo getting lucky? The parking lot of all places?” Soonyoung exclaimed in disbelief. Him and Minghao lingered away from the vehicle as Jihoon and Seungcheol inspected it as if it was their jobs.

“Looks like it.” Jihoon commented, walking around to the other side.

“Hey Wonwoo! Who’s the lucky ‘un?” Seungcheol laughed. He knocked on the window, fear causing Mingyu to almost break down as once again Wonwoo repeated ‘Just breathe’ to him.

“HEY IT’S A GUY!” Jihoon exclaimed as he peered through the window on the other side of the car. Suddenly Soonyoung began jumping around as he howled, and it gave Seungcheol even more ammunition.

“Wonwoo you dirty dog!” He banged on the window again in roaring laughter. By this point Wonwoo had begun chanting to Mingyu just to keep breathing, hoping that his voice would also help to mask Seungcheol’s words.

“Who’s the guy, huh? A student? What did you do to get him to get in the car with you, hm? Didn’t I tell you to stop prowling around the school?”

‘Prowling?’ Only that word was stuck in Mingyu’s mind for a moment. Wait... ‘Didn’t I tell you’? Mingyu managed to pry his eyes open, looking up to Wonwoo as he realized at some point Wonwoo had closed his eyes too but had continued chanting for Mingyu to keep breathing.

“Guess we’re gonna have a chat after finals.” Seungcheol’s words almost seemed like an omen. Even if they weren’t aimed at Mingyu it definitely set more fear into him. What did he mean?

“Come on guys.” Minghao’s lower, bored sounding voice, called out.

“The restaurant is going to call the police if we stand here any longer. They have all our addresses, remember?”

Seungcheol lingered a little longer. Taking his phone out he quietly snapped a few pictures of whatever he could see in front of him before turning back to Soonyoung and Minghao.

“Yeah” He huffed “That’s what I get for being friend’s with a couple of broke asses.” He laughed off with a bit of an insult. Taking his sweet time to backing away fully, Jihoon coming to join his side once more.

“Hey you offered to pay for this dinner after Mingyu ditched you.” Soonyoung whined, finally their voices slowly became distant, signalling to the couple in the car that they were leaving.

The two didn’t move. Fear slowly draining their bodies of all life they had before, suddenly the atmosphere was dull and filled with horror. Mingyu’s chest expanding and rising for the total opposite reason it was only moments ago as Wonwoo finally felt brave enough to let out a deep breath that sounded like he had been holding onto the entire time. Finally he lowered his jacket and returned himself to his original seat.

“...You should go home.” Wonwoo said. Honestly Mingyu didn’t know what to expect but he was still shocked by that suggestion. Suddenly the entire situation hit him in real time and he began to remember everything.

“What the fuck did he mean ‘didn’t I tell you’?” He huffed out heavily, eyebrows furrowing deeply in a flurry of emotions. Anger, betrayal? He had no idea what was going on, he was heavily confused.

“Did you guys talk before?”

“I think you should go home, Mingyu.” Wonwoo repeated. This only made Mingyu become angrier at the lack of answer.

“Did you guys talk before?” He continued to poke and prod the conversation but Wonwoo seemed to be shutting down.

“Get out the car, Mingyu.” He said more sternly this time, hands moving to grip the wheel in an attempt to regain some control, but Mingyu turned to look at him.

“Just answer me! Did you guys talk before!?” He practically shouted at Wonwoo who finally caved into his way of handling this.

“Yes, alright!? If you can call it talking, then yes! We talked before!” Wonwoo shouted back. But having that first answer only led to a million other questions.

“What did he say to you!? What did he mean ‘stop prowling’, huh? What did you talk about!?” Mingyu definitely wasn’t prepared for Wonwoo’s answer.

“Exactly what he said, Mingyu, you heard him!” He threw his hands off the wheel in anger.

“Your best friend told me to ‘stop flirting with guys’. To stop ‘coming after you’ and ‘stop trying to turn you gay’ because it wasn’t going to work.”

Mingyu was confused. Seungcheol said that? What did he see for him to say that? Mingyu shifted in his seat, his voice low again with fear.

“Why the fuck w-would he think you’re trying to turn- me gay?” He stuttered madly, not knowing how to say it any other way. Wonwoo practically rolled his eyes at the behavior.

“Because. He knows about me.” Wonwoo said.

“He told me he ‘just knew’ from when I joined the school. He said I reeked of desperation around you. He told me he knew I liked you and told me to keep my distance. He said ‘no matter what I try, I can’t turn you. ”

“W-What made him say that?” He asked, suddenly his eyes were looking around nervously as if his friends were going to come back any minute.

“What did he see? What does he know?”

Finally Wonwoo looked up to him. And it wasn’t a look of anger. It was pity. It was like hearing the most disappointing response you had ever heard, but what was worse is that you expected it. But it still hurt.

“Nothing.” He huffed out heavily, as if it took all of his energy to say that. But it didn’t make Mingyu feel any better.

“He said he saw me one time. Leave your house. The next day he cornered me in school and asked what I was doing there. I told him I was helping you study but he didn’t believe me. He told me to stop seeing you ‘if I knew what was good for me’. Multiple times! Whenever he saw us talk in class he stalked me afterward to find out what I said to you. It was unsafe to be around you!”

Mingyu had no idea how to take this. His mind at the best of times wasn’t rational anyway, but definitely the current situation wasn’t making it any better.

“So he doesn’t know.” Mingyu confirmed the story... totally missing the opposite point.

“That’s... That’s good.” He thought he was going down the right path. That was until Wonwoo let out a harsh laugh.

“Why are you laughing?” He naively asked.

“I just told you-” Wonwoo choked on his own laughter in disbelief.

“I just told you that your best friend pulled me up and threatened me with my life to stop seeing you... And all your concerned about is the fact is he knows your gay or not?”

So many things in that sentence made Mingyu want to scream out to the contrary. But Wonwoo continued.

“Your homophobic friend on countless occasions threatened me and yet I still continued to meet up with you. KNOWING that he could’ve been watching me at any moment, and all you care about is if YOU were caught? You’re unbelievable.”

Once again Mingyu couldn’t help but stay silent.

“Actually, you know what? No. You’re totally believable. You’re just. Like. Them.”

“Wait no-” Mingyu tried to intervene, but Wonwoo was in no mood to listen.

“It’s me who’s unbelievable. After all this time I fooled myself into thinking that maybe you were better than them. That one day you would see them for what they really are and realize what was in front of you and leave them.”

“They’re not bad people!” Mingyu interjected, he didn’t know how he could honestly say that right now, and neither could Wonwoo. He stared at Mingyu once more, jaw open.

“If they’re such good people, how come you didn’t pull my jacket down before and let them know it was you?” Wonwoo asked. Mingyu had no answer for it that he wanted to hear.

“Exactly. Always the victim, never the cause.” Wonwoo took a deep breath to stop his breath from shaking. The silence felt like a burden to both of them.

“But Wonwoo I want to be with you.” Mingyu managed to pull up enough courage to mutter some words. Still looking down to the ground he didn’t have the energy to look up at Wonwoo’s reaction, but his tone did all the work.

“Be with me?” Wonwoo coughed a laugh. “You don’t even want to be seen with me.”

Mingyu saw the truth in that. He was absolutely terrified before, at the risk of his friends knowing it was him. He didn’t realize the risk Wonwoo had made for him. And how Wonwoo had protected him. And now here he was still trying to claim he wanted to be with him when he couldn’t even bare the thought of letting his closest friends know it was him inside the car too. He felt ashamed.

“I told you to wait until after finals to talk about us, but I guess now is as good of a time as ever.” Wonwoo took another breath in, turning to look at Mingyu who’s automatic reaction was to finally look back at him. He knew what was coming but still he couldn’t stop his heart from shattering.

“We are never going to work.”

The air felt different. It felt cold and empty and so did his chest. Like every last bit of air in his body had escaped him into the atmosphere and it was never going to return. He couldn’t breathe.

“But we-” He began, but Wonwoo shushed him.

“We were never going to work.”

Wonwoo stayed staring at Mingyu for a few moments. Trying his best to get his stone-cold message across and all Mingyu could do was stare back. No words forming in his mind that could save this. He knew it was over but he still wanted something, anything right now even though he knew he couldn’t. All he could do was stare and see the boy he just lost stare right back at him.

“I think you should go home, Mingyu.”

 


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: scenes of non-consensual sexual nature in this chapter!

Finals came and went and the month turned to June. Days before prom and Mingyu was really not in the mood for any sort of festivities. He had managed to find solitude up until finals, luckily telling his friends he was studying was enough to keep them at bay. And at times he was studying. Other times he just lay in his room, staring at the ceiling. Or at his phone. Never once did he expect Wonwoo to text him, but often his mind wondered if Wonwoo was waiting for him to text him.

Should he? Should he text Wonwoo first? Every time his fingers raised to look at their old messages Mingyu’s mind instantly flashed back to that night in the car. How something going so great suddenly crashed and burned in seconds. And according to Wonwoo it was never going to work. It made Mingyu angry. Why did Wonwoo continue seeing him if him if he knew it was never going to last? Did he really not care? Mingyu already knew the answer to that was ‘of course he cared’. He just felt like lashing out in those thoughtful moments. ‘You’re just like them’. It was those words that stuck more these last few days.

Mingyu’s friends; Soonyoung, who he had known pretty much his entire life. A boy not too smart but full of energy, fight, and passion for anything he put his mind to. Was that a bad thing? Soonyoung would lay his life on the line for Mingyu if he ever needed to. Would Soonyoung really abandon Mingyu for liking boys?

Then Minghao; the middle school friend. Minghao, without a doubt in Mingyu’s mind, would never abandon him. If anything, he would’ve done it by now. He had no reason to stick around as much as the others. No sport links or growing up his entire lives with the rest of the boys. But he did anyway. And he often Mingyu the hard truth even when he didn’t want to hear it.

Jihoon was a wild card. He had loyalty in heaps and bounds but still Mingyu felt he was slightly unnerving. He was very strong willed and there was no changing his mind. But again, that wasn’t a bad trait, right? Just... it was a little difficult to change his mind... But surely he would be open to things from his high school best friend?

Seungcheol. A person who Mingyu once saw as his right-hand man was suddenly the cause of so much trouble. But again, his actions were done to protect Mingyu, in whatever misguided method it was. Surely if he talked to Seungcheol he would see the error of his ways.

So much was in Mingyu’s mind it was causing him to have a headache. Turning on his side he put his phone down. Only for it to buzz a few seconds after doing so.

He had no idea why he jumped for it. Knowing fully well it wouldn’t be the one person he wanted to talk to right now, but with those thoughts in his mind his heart automatically caused the action. Only for him to be disappointed when of course his mind was right.

 _Jess unopened msg_.

Fuck, yes of course. He had almost forgotten about the girl he was supposed to be taking to prom. God, this was not a good time right now.

_Jess_   
_Hey listen, I know I said pick me up at 6 but I actually have some time before that. How about you come over at 5? 7.23pm_

Mingyu stared at the message for a moment. Earlier? It didn’t really make sense to him, but whatever, he agreed. Sending a confirmation text back to her before rolling back onto the side of his bed once more.

At least now he wouldn’t have to tell Wonwoo he had a date to prom.

That thought really didn’t help. In fact, it made him more stressed. He didn’t even want to go to prom in the first place. Now he had to go and see Wonwoo there too? After everything that had happened? Would Wonwoo even turn up? Mingyu began wondering if that would be the last time until graduation. Was Mingyu really going to let it go down like that? Apparently not as he turned back over to reach for his phone.

Hands shaking as he typed out a message, he really couldn’t believe he was doing this. But he also didn’t want Wonwoo to slip away from him without a fight.

_Mingyu_   
_Hey... So I don’t expect a reply, like, at all. But I just wanted to say after everything that’s happened, I think we should talk. One last time. Please? At prom about 8pm I’ll sneak out. Our usual place... I hope I can see you there. 7.29pm_

Maybe it was time for an early night.

* * *

 

Prom day came and of course Mingyu had received no reply. Despite not expecting a reply it still hurt. Maybe Wonwoo didn’t want to fix this. He was incredibly anxious; if Wonwoo showed up tonight, that was a good sign, right? Maybe it meant he wanted to see Mingyu too. God he was practically sweating through his suit already as he walked up to Jessica’s house. Knocking on the door only to hear a ‘come in’ echo from the inside.

He did think twice about just wandering in. He had never been here before, was he just supposed to walk in and greet her parents? The door opened easily and he wandered on, only to be met with a quiet house. He raised an eyebrow at it. He swore he heard her voice.

“Uh, Jess?” Mingyu called out carefully. He had no idea who was here right now, so he didn’t want to be going around shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Up here, Mingyu! I’m just-” She paused midsentence. “Can you help me?” She didn’t sound worried or concerned. Maybe struggling but whatever it was Mingyu obeyed. Walking up the stairs he followed where he assumed her voice was coming from. A room at the end of the hall with the door slightly open. Pushing it open he was met with her bare back as she was trying to pull her dress up.

“Oh thank god.” She sighed, spinning around to Mingyu who quickly adverted his eyes. Yes he really was acting like he had never seen a half-naked girl before.

“My dress is all tangled! I guess I just couldn’t do the zipper myself.” She giggled to him, Mingyu chuckling awkwardly back whilst still not looking.

If he would’ve looked, it wouldn’t have been much. Jessica was simply holding her dress up to her breasts, it was long enough to flow down to her feet almost, but the zip at the back cut lowly and almost sat on her buttocks. It took her only another moment for her to realize what he was doing and for her to laugh at him.

“Come on, don’t be shy!” She teased, taking a step closer to him.

“It’s not like you haven’t seen it all before.”

Mingyu could see her through his peripheral vision edge closer to him. It wasn’t dire enough for him to move again, but her words definitely didn’t encourage him to look either.

“Yeah well, that was uh-” He struggled, hearing Jess laugh at his nervousness again.

“They were girlfriends and you- well you’re-”

“I’m your prom date!” She finished off for him. Jessica managed to prop her dress up by keeping her elbows at the side of her ribcage. Leaving her hands free to reach out and take Mingyu’s hands, which in the moment he completely allowed her to lead the way. She wasn’t wrong, Mingyu felt half-defenseless against that argument. Slowly Jessica lowered his guard, dropping his hands to his sides.

“Is just as good as a girlfriend, isn’t it?” The change in her voice didn’t go unnoticed by Mingyu, who now looked down suspiciously at her. What was her point?

“Besides... I bet at parties you’ve done a lot worse with girls who didn’t even know your name.”

Before Mingyu could even respond she pressed her lips up to his. It was an odd wave a shock; not one where he wanted to instantly pull away, but Mingyu felt as if he couldn’t move. Jess was harmless. A cheerleader he had known for years, he didn’t feel threatened by her actions at all but in the same breath they didn’t make him feel comfortable. He stayed still hoping that soon she would get the message he wasn’t interested that way in her if he didn’t do anything.

But she didn’t. Jess moved to run her hands down his body, the feeling familiar yet unsettling to Mingyu. The only person to have ever done this before was Wonwoo. And this definitely wasn’t Wonwoo right now but that’s where Mingyu’s mind was sticking for some reason. Jess moving her lips down to his neck, it was only by this point did Mingyu realize she had turned him in the direction of her bed and suddenly he felt his voice return to him.

“Jess, no.” He barely muttered, eyes wandering around the room, trying to focus on anything else. What wasn’t she getting the message? He wasn’t engaging at all, he wasn’t even looking at her! He wasn’t interested! Jess’ voice attempted to soothe and calm him.

“Shh, it’s okay. You just need to relax.” She hummed against his skin. The word relax once again making him think of Wonwoo. About that night they spent together. How Wonwoo waited for Mingyu each and every step to show he was relaxed. There was nothing relaxing about this moment right now, and by the time Mingyu’s hands were reaching out to push her away she was already undoing his belt.

“Jess stop. What are you doing?” He was becoming more aware of what was happening; and he definitely wasn’t liking it. He tried to take a step forward but her hands prevented him. Despite the fact Mingyu could definitely push past her... this was a girl. And boys didn’t do that to girls, right? That would make him a terrible person. It was disrespectful.

“We’re just going to have some fun before we go to prom, duh!” She laughed. The laughed confused Mingyu, how could any of this be funny right now? Didn’t she feel the tension? Suddenly his legs hit the bed, Jess’ hands doing the last of the work to push him over, knocking the air out of Mingyu’s lungs and making him speechless. Feeling cold air hit his thighs as he began to sit back up again.

“Now just relax.” She stated a little harder this time, Mingyu feeling sick and disorientated as he tried to catch his sitting balance.

“Let me get you started.”

Mingyu suddenly felt his stomach curl. He thought he was going to throw up instantly as he felt heat encase his member in an uncomfortable manner. He was speechless. Jess really thought he wanted this? It was almost as if time had frozen on him and he was going to be trapped in this terrible moment forever, unable to do anything. It was all making sense.

All the lies after years had made people think this was what he wanted. No one had actually ever had the courage to test him on it, they all just took it word, manipulated what he said for their own desires and allowed his reputation to grow into something that was completely the opposite of himself. All the stories about him sleeping with college girls, being invited to amazing parties. It made Mingyu seem like this was exactly that kind of thing he would’ve loved. But it wasn’t true. None of it was.

Feeling Jess slide her tongue over him had Mingyu completely grossed out. Her palm squeezing him in some attempt to get him erect but nothing in his body was complying until finally his fight of flight instinct kicked in enough for him to move. Standing up he knocked her back onto the ground, Mingyu not wasting a second before buckling his pants back up, only to have Jess scream at him.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” She shreiked.

“I’m leaving.” He replied instantly, the panic setting in on what had just happened to him. His breath and hands started to shake erratically.

“You can’t leave! We’re going to prom! We have to!”

Mingyu finished tucking his shirt back into his pants, leaning for her door he quickly turned back around to see her throwing her tantrum on the floor still.

“I don’t have to do anything, Jess. Especially not this.”

“I thought you liked this! You’re always talking about how you go to parties just for this sorta thing, what wrong with me!?”

“Nothing is wrong with you.” He shook his head.

“It’s me. It’s always been me, I never wanted any of this. I-I gotta go.”

Mingyu quickly vacated the room, definitely hearing Jess shout something along the lines of ‘are you gay?’ as he left but Mingyu had nothing in him left to answer that. Getting in his car he drove. An anxious mind taking over he didn’t know where he was going but he just continued to drive. Ending up half way back to his home before he broke down in the realization that he couldn’t go back there. Entire body trembling in anxiety, fear, isolation. For once in his life he didn’t know what to do and felt he had nobody to turn to. His hands gripped the wheel tightly, trying to channel the negative emotions overwhelming him away somehow but nothing was working. This was Mingyu. This is what everything in his life had resulted to right now.

Everything in his life had been a lie. And now it was all slowly coming out. What if his mother found out? Jess had probably already text half the school by now that Mingyu just walked out on her mid-blowjob and told her ‘it’s his fault’. The school. Shit. It was still prom night and the only reason he wanted to even go was because of Wonwoo. Fuck. Could he even show his face? He had to do something, if there was one thing to salvage in his life it was Wonwoo.

He had to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This isn’t victim blaming, this is Mingyu blaming himself for everything because in his mind ‘if he didn’t lie in the first place it wouldn’t have happened’ but of course we all know life ain’t work like that okay thank you for reading!


	24. Chapter 24

Mingyu sat in his car for maybe an hour until he calmed down. Steadying his breath until he felt safe enough to drive again, by this point it was 7.30pm when he arrived at the school. He still didn’t feel ready to go inside. There would be prying eyes.

‘Why did he arrive alone? What happened to Jess?’ Unless of course they all already knew which was a big chance. Mingyu was the prime example of how fast news was spread around this place, and an even better example for how it got manipulated too.

But he had to. He had to go inside, because if he didn’t maybe Wonwoo would never forgive him. Maybe he would never see him again because he still had no idea what college Wonwoo was attending. Was all of this futile anyway? They were going to be split up at college anyway, would Wonwoo trust Mingyu enough for something long distance? So many negative factors impacted his mind he was finding it difficult to find any positives. Apart from the fact that this was Wonwoo. That was all the encouragement he needed to finally walk into the school.

The hallways were empty, that was no surprise. Dance music emanating from the gym caused Mingyu’s throat to become dry out of fear once more. What if this whole thing was pointless?

Tugging at the sleeves of his suit he finally entered. There were no eyes immediately on him, to his relief, as he worked quickly to find Wonwoo. But instead he was found by his friends.

“There’s the future king!” Soonyoung greeted loudly. Finally attention was on Mingyu as others noticed his late arrival.

“Arriving fashionably late, I see.” Minghao added, Mingyu tried desperately to laugh in agreement but it came out shakey. And his friends noticed.

“Are you alone? Where’s your date?” Minghao asked. Automatically Mingyu’s stomach began to twist and writhe from remembering what happened only a few hours before. He had to control it, that urge to run out of the room and go home. Get under his covers and never come out again. He simply looked around the room for another distraction as his mouth answered by its own accord.

“Something came up, she’s not coming.” He lied. Soonyoung and Minghao quickly got the message that he was looking for something or someone.

“If you’re looking for Jihoon and Cheol they’re backstage.” Soonyoung hazarded a guess at who he was looking for, and for a second Mingyu’s face scrunched up in confusion. He had to remember that they still knew nothing.

“Oh yeah, right wait-” Mingyu tried to cover once more, shaking his head to try and make himself focus on the current conversation.

“Why are they backstage?”

“Jihoon managed to bribe someone to let Seungcheol announce prom king and queen.” Minghao answered.

“Money.” Soonyoung dryly commented, as if Mingyu couldn’t put that together himself. He paid very little attention to it, nodding at his friends before attempting to walk off in pursuit of Wonwoo again but Soonyoung stopped him.

“Where are you going?” He called, catching his taller friend’s arm and making Mingyu turn back to him.

“You’re gonna be prom king, you can’t wander off now! They’re going to make the announcement soon!”

Mingyu didn’t want to listen. Or rather he couldn’t focus on what seemed like a minute detail to him right now. Unclasping his friend’s hand from his arm he looked around the room once more in vain.

“I’ll be back before then.” He made an empty promise, hoping it was enough to keep Soonyoung at bay whilst he did what he came here to do. Find Wonwoo. Making his way through a crowded floor he had his mind fixated on finding Wonwoo. He had no idea what he was going to say to him, he just hoped it would all come out naturally when he saw him.

And then there he was.

Honestly Mingyu didn’t expect him to show up. Showing up meant that he clearly saw Mingyu’s message and still came to a place where they were expected to meet. Did... that mean Wonwoo wanted to talk to him too? Mingyu’s heart faltered with hope over spilling into his chest. He wanted this. At first Wonwoo didn’t notice him, it made Mingyu nervous as he slowly approached him. Wonwoo was alone, standing near the benches stacked up against the side of the wall. It almost looked like he was waiting for Mingyu, and Mingyu really hoped that it was the case.

“Hey.” Mingyu reverted to the world’s worst greeting by now. Catching Wonwoo’s attention, the older boy didn’t know whether to laugh at it or roll his eyes. Naturally a smile curled onto Mingyu’s face. Despite the day he had been going through, seeing Wonwoo felt like home. But right now home was staring back with unreadable eyes.

“I’m glad you came.” Mingyu gulped dryly, taking another step closer but Wonwoo stepped back.

“Can we talk? I just want-” He started, but Wonwoo pointed over Mingyu’s shoulder and towards the stage.

“They’re about to announce the winner.” He spoke simply. They were the first words Wonwoo had spoken to him since the day in the car and Mingyu’s heart broke. He couldn’t care less about prom right now, and his anger at the situation quickly bubbled up as he vocalized it.

“I don’t give a shit about prom king, I just need to talk to you.” He half hissed in frustration. In the background Seungcheol wandered onto the stage, making some sort of speech Mingyu didn’t want to listen to, but Wonwoo seemed to be focusing on more.

“Please I just want to tell you. I’m sorry, and I-” His voice drowned out by the roars of victory, Mingyu turning around instantly as he was surprised by the sound. Seungcheol was chanting Mingyu’s name from the stage as a spotlight was attempting to find him in the vicinity. Mingyu sighed in defeat.

“Please, just wait right here okay? I’ll be back.” He told Wonwoo. He was sure Wonwoo nodded briefly before Mingyu turned away. Half-confidently making his way to the stage to accept his place as prom king.

“Everyone, your king!” Seungcheol cheered through a microphone one more time to get a similar reaction from the crowd around the stage. Mingyu quietly bowed a little at the gathering folk, a crown making its way to his head, he scanned over the crowd to make sure Wonwoo was still there waiting for him.

“Make a speech, my man!” Seungcheol encouraged. Handing the microphone to Mingyu who anxiously took it from his friend, he was annoyed he had to do this in the first place, but nevertheless he did it.

“Um, hi everybody.” He coughed into the microphone.

“Thanks for coming out tonight. Thank you for uh, making me your king and um- I guess good luck at college or whatever you want to do with your life!” There was a brief silence before the applause started, Seungcheol wandering back over to Mingyu to take the microphone and for a second Mingyu thought he was free. But his friend’s hand barred him from exiting the stage just yet.

“Now ladies and gentlemen, sadly our king’s date couldn’t make it tonight.” Seungcheol announced. There was barely a reaction as the crowd listened, but fear grew inside Mingyu. He had no idea where he was going with this.

Seungcheol seemed to take center stage, almost like a game host would do.

“But what would be a king be without a queen, right? We wanted to pick a lucky girl from the crowd tonight but we had someone more special in mind.”

We? Who was ‘we’ Mingyu thought in panic. He felt like he had been roped in as some sort of prop for a joke and he had no idea how to escape. Frozen to the spot as the game continued to play out.

“Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this person had their eye on our king for a while now!”

 _No_.

“He thought they would make a great couple, but it’s a shame that things don’t always work out the way you want them to!”

_Please no._

“But it’s okay, ladies and gentlmen! Don’t fret!” Seungcheol continued to circus act speech, people becoming more curious by the second.

“He quickly moved on! In fact, let me put all of your minds at ease.”

Seungcheol turned around to face a large projector screen at the back of the stage. Mingyu did too but the moment a video started playing he desperately wished he didn’t. In fact, he wished he had just never been born.

_‘Who’s the lucky ‘un, huh?’_

**_TAP TAP TAP_ **

_‘HEY IT’S A GUY’_

**_LAUGHTER_ **

The whole time Mingyu and Wonwoo had been trapped in the car, Seungcheol had recorded it. Phone zooming in at awkward angles as if he was trying to confirm it was Wonwoo. Focusing on where their legs entwined. Their voices constantly talking over the video, laughing and joking as if it was nothing as horror washed over Mingyu. Was this really a joke to him? This was what he was ending the school year on? Taking out a guy for being gay? Reliving that night in his head one more time made Mingyu feel like he was going the throw up. To make it worse Seungcheol continued his game show hosting charade, talking about unmasking the identity of who the lover was.

Mingyu’s head becoming dizzy as the laughter got louder, the muttering of people talking about the video building up inside his mind suddenly the tension snapped as he looked up.

Of course Wonwoo was gone.

“Turn it off.” He turned to Seungcheol. His ‘best friend’ stood with a huge grin on his face, unfaltering at his request.

Mingyu looked back stage, noticing Jihoon standing in the sidelines, clearly he was the one who played the video and Seungcheol was just the stage prop. It enraged Mingyu. Were these guys really his friends? Suddenly everything Wonwoo had said fell into place about the type of people they were. And now it looked like Mingyu was one of them. It looked like he invited Wonwoo here for the sole reason to embarrass him one last time before school was over. Seungcheol had no idea who else was in that video and he didn’t care. Mingyu couldn’t do this anymore.

“Turn it off!” He shouted louder to Jihoon backstage but still nobody moved. The talking got louder and Mingyu’s head felt like it was going to explode. If he couldn’t end the video he was going to find Wonwoo and explain. He quickly walked towards the stairs at the side.

“Where are you going, captain!?” Seungcheol finally called out to his ‘friend’. Mingyu turned back with pure anger in his eyes at the situation.

“Turn the video off, Cheol. There was no reason to do this!” He practically snarled.

“Come on!” Seungcheol tried to encourage Mingyu calmly.

“It’s just a joke. No one got hurt!”

“No one?” Mingyu stormed back on the stage, the fast movements catching the attention of many people in the crowd as the noise died down ever so slightly.

“Maybe Wonwoo but it’s nothing nobody already knew.” Seungcheol tried to play it off as no big deal. Every word he spoke enraged Mingyu even more. How could he be so placid over doing this?

“Sure there’s another guy. But no one knows who he is! He will probably just go on-”

“It’s me.” The words came out of Mingyu’s mouth without thinking. He truly was sick and tired of all these childish games and scoring points. For the moment Seungcheol didn’t register what Mingyu had said at all. Keeping that sickening smirk on his face, Mingyu knew he would have to repeat it. He gulped heavily, feeling the strain and pressure this time, knowing he was about to admit to it.

“The guy in the video. It’s me.”

That did the job. Knocking the smirk off Seungcheol’s face, he was now unreadable. Mingyu for once though didn’t feel fear or anxiety, if anything he felt relieved. Right now his friend’s opinion on what he said didn’t matter to him or how many people in the crowd heard it, what mattered was that he was finally able to admit to the truth for once in his life.

“You...You’re-” Seungcheol tried to string words together, but Mingyu wasn’t in a listening mood. Practically throwing the crown back to Seungcheol he walked off the stage again, this time Seungcheol knew exactly where he was going.

Mingyu half knew it was hopeless. Running as fast as he could to their usual meeting spot at the back of the gym. Why the fuck would Wonwoo wait for him now? And of course Mingyu’s thoughts were right. He wasn’t there.

Mingyu knew what Wonwoo would be thinking right now. That he planned this entire thing to get back at Wonwoo for turning him down. Those thoughts had him on the brink of tears as he pulled his phone out to dial Wonwoo’s number.

Once, twice, three times, four times... He was never going to pick up. Mingyu felt defeated. He was desperate. Desperate enough to drive to Wonwoo’s home too.

The entire way there his anxiety kept him alive. His mind only focused on one thing and that was just explaining to Wonwoo that he had nothing to do with tonight. That he was right; his friends were shitty people and he wanted nothing more to do with them. That was enough to prove he was serious to Wonwoo, right? That was all he could think about until he pulled up.

Knocking on the door, of course Wonwoo wasn’t going to answer. Instead his mother stood in front of Mingyu, a pained look on her face which tore right through Mingyu.

“Can I see him please.” Mingyu spoke lowly, almost unable to stop his voice from cracking. Wonwoo’s mom shook her head.

“He doesn’t want to speak to you.” She answered. There was no malice or anger in her voice, only the sound of disappointment which continued to hurt Mingyu.

“Please I-” He began, but Wonwoo’s mom raised a hand to silence him.

“He’s been through enough, being who he is.” She started. Mingyu feeling tears prick at his eyes again. God he knew this all along, how could he have been so selfish and careless. He was so stupid.

“I think it’s best to just leave the past in the past. Don’t you think?”

Mingyu was speechless. In a lot of ways, Wonwoo was like his mom, and she spoke the truth. Mingyu should really just... let Wonwoo go. He couldn’t answer her. He knew she was right, even if he didn’t want her to be. They stood in silence for a minute. Mingyu had zero energy to complain or start a fight, he knew he wasn’t going to win anyway.

“Drive home safely, Mingyu.” She finished, closing the door on him quietly, as if not to let Wonwoo know about the situation.

Mingyu didn’t remember getting home. He didn’t remember passing his mother who was asleep on the couch waiting for him to arrive back. He didn’t remember crying himself to sleep for the first time in his life. He didn’t check his phone which had at least thirty missed called from Soonyoung... and zero from the one person he wanted to talk to.

 


	25. Chapter 25

By the time Mingyu’s mind had begun to regain any sort of focus it was already Sunday afternoon. Sun shining through his window, the heat already building up in the room, yet he had no desire to move or do anything about it.

His mom had been in a few times. Concerned with what happened at prom. At first Mingyu didn’t have the heart to tell her. That would only lead to more disappointment. But by this point Mingyu had been totally disheveled of any basic human emotion enough to worry his mom into oblivion so he felt compelled to tell her the truth at some point.

 _‘Is it a girl?’_ She asked.

It took Mingyu a few moments to compile his reply to her.

_‘A boy.’_

The dull moments after his confession didn’t bring any fright or fear to Mingyu’s chest, he had prepared himself for the worst at this point, but whatever reply he was expecting never came.

_‘Is it Wonwoo?’_

Mingyu’s eyes for the first time in days flashed up to his mother. He wanted to ask how she knew but the surprised look on his face spoke for him.

 _‘I knew he was different’_ His mom spoke. For a second Mingyu felt a flutter of anger in the midst of his confusion. Where was this heading? But luckily he kept quiet.

 _‘Whatever happened between you two happens to everyone, dear. Break-ups happen all the time.’_ He knew her words were supposed to be comforting, but it really didn’t help.

  
We weren’t in together, he wanted to tell her but that would just confuse her so much more. God knows it confused Mingyu.

_‘You’ve got college to look forward to. And your friends... They know too, right?’_

Mingyu didn’t have the energy to explain what had happened at prom.

Finally he had gained the strength to sit up. If anything, knowing his mother wasn’t about to kick him out gave him a bit of courage to try and at least get breakfast. Hearing his mom head out he assumed she was going for groceries and this was probably the best time to go down so he didn’t have to talk to anyone.

Then his bedroom door opened.

“Hey.” Mingyu froze to look up. Minghao stood quietly around the edge of the door, like a small child waiting for permission to come in. Mingyu just continued to stare in shock so Minghao opened the door to test the boundaries.

“Your mom let me in as she went out. Is that okay?” It was a little beyond okay considering Minghao was already in his room, so Mingyu didn’t answer. Minghao walked slowly over to the edge of Mingyu’s bed before sitting down on next to him.

It was a tense moment which seemed to feel like a lifetime to both of them. Mingyu having no idea what Minghao could be here for if it wasn’t for... Prom. Did the rest of the school know too, by now? Surely Seungcheol had put his mouth to work and had informed everyone, even people who didn’t go to prom that night. Mingyu was anxious to hear what Minghao had to say, and soon he got his answer.

“I knew it was you.”

That completely floored Mingyu. If he wasn’t sitting down, he definitely would’ve fallen to the ground. It felt like he had just been hit in the head by a brick. His entire face seemed to scream ‘say that again’ to Minghao, and that’s exactly what he did.

“I’ve known all this time there was something going on with you two.” He continued. Surely by this point Mingyu was biting his tongue so hard he was going to taste blood soon.

“Maybe not from the start. But when you both started sneaking out at lunch time, I had a pretty good idea it was to see each other.”

Mingyu... just... He couldn’t formulate his thoughts at all. Had it really been that obvious this entire time? And if so, why did nobody say anything before? He suddenly had so many questions to throw at Minghao but no voice to do so.

“How did you two meet? Considering he walked in knowing your name at home room I take it you met during summer.”

“I was at football-”

“Cut the crap, Mingyu.” Minghao interrupted his lies.

“I’ve known you since middle school. Remember that one summer you said you lost your virginity? Me, you, and Soonyoung spent every day together. So unless it was with Soonyoung-”

“HEY” Another familiar voice rang from the hallway, causing utter fear to instil itself into Mingyu’s heart at hearing his best friend’s voice call out. Minghao froze for a moment too, almost as if he had forgotten Soonyoung was out there.

“Oh yeah. Soonyoung is here too, I forgot about that.”

That was the cue for Soonyoung to pry himself around the door. Looking meek and small like scolded child.

“Soonyoung knew too?” Mingyu finally managed to ask a question swirling around his mind.

“Soonyoung didn’t even realize we spent every day during that summer, don’t give him too much credit.”

Soonyoung just glared at his other friend before his eyes softened back to Mingyu.

Soonyoung took his time. Walking into the room and taking a spot next to Mingyu. It wasn’t like Soonyoung to waste so much time not talking, and Mingyu felt the pressure he was putting himself under to open his mouth.

“Was that really you?” Soonyoung began.

“In the video?” Of course Soonyoung heard about that. If not at prom itself then surely Seungcheol told everyone himself afterward. What was Mingyu supposed to answer? Surely Soonyoung already knew the truth. There really was no point in lying anymore.

Mingyu grimly nodded his head. Not knowing how that would seal the fate of their friendship.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Soonyoung sighed heavily. Really, did he have a right to be upset over this as much as Mingyu did? The taller boy was confused.

”Jeez, Mingyu, what did you think I was going to do? Disown you?”

“Well, yeah, exactly that.” Mingyu found himself replying before realizing it. Soonyoung looked shocked that his friend could even speak right now.

“...Well, fair point.” Soonyoung conceded. Mingyu clasped his hands together, Soonyoung following suit alongside him.

“Look regardless of the reason now, it’s all out.” Minghao continued for the both of them. Wow he was so insightful, Mingyu had always known, but now it was way more than he ever expected.

“We just wanted to let you know we still want to be your friends. And support you. Right, Soonyoung?”

“Right.” The word followed instantly out of Soonyoung’s mouth, which instantly made Mingyu smile. It was reassuring. Soothing. For a moment everything felt okay until he realized there were two people still missing.

“What about...” Mingyu started but suddenly he didn’t want to continue. He knew exactly why they weren’t here, he didn’t need to ask why, he just knew.

“Yeah, um.” Soonyoung coughed awkwardly. He was never good at handling sensitive situations.

“They didn’t come.” Mingyu knew exactly the reason why, but still Soonyoung continued to explain.

“Seungcheol kinda told the entire school straight after you left. Something about how living under your shadow all this time and now it’s his time.”

“Quite maniacal, really.” Minghao added.

Mingyu wasn’t surprised. It did bring his mood back down instantly, but he couldn’t be surprised. Jihoon and Seungcheol were inseperable, if Seungcheol saw it as ‘his time’ then Jihoon would be beside him too. Mingyu sighed.

“Did you speak to Wonwoo?” Minghao asked, now Mingyu’s mood was really deflated.

“He didn’t want to talk to me.” He sighed out loud, of course what other answer were they expecting? Mingyu depressed his shoulders sadly.

“He probably thought I planned the whole thing. I tried to explain but his mom wouldn’t like me see him.”

“Then you should go back.” Usually Soonyoung had the stupidest ideas... But this one wasn’t sounding so bad right now. Soonyoung stood up, as if it was giving him momentum to continue his pep talk to Mingyu.

“Don’t take no for an answer, knock that door down! Demand he listen to you!” He ranted on, and it definitely made Minghao laugh. Mingyu not so much.

“He already said we’re over... We didn’t even start to begin with.” He said solemnly. That deflated Soonyoung enough to quieten him down, Minghao sighed and stood up too.

“We should get going. Just know whatever you do that we will be there for you, okay?” Minghao spoke. Earning a small nod and a smile from Mingyu as his two remaining friends let themselves out, Mingyu tossed himself back on his bed.

...Maybe Soonyoung was right. Maybe it was time for one last try.

* * *

 

It took Mingyu another three hours to convince himself of that. To get up, washed and dressed and out the door to his car. It then took him a further twenty minutes to convince himself to put the car into drive so he could begin the near one-hour journey to Wonwoo’s house. All the time on the way spent in silence with no radio on so he could formulate what he was going to say in his head.

_If it’s his parents, I tell them it’s important. I tell them I have to talk to him. It’s urgent._

And if it’s Wonwoo?

_Tell him I love him._

That was his plan and he was going to stick with it. It caused his heart to race faster than ever as he pulled up to the house once more. Nothing looking out of abstract or abnormal as he climbed out of the car with more certainty in mind than the last time he was here.

He knocked. He hoped and prayed to some god somewhere that life would go easy on him and that Wonwoo would answer the door. But of course fate wasn’t going to make it that easy for him today.

Wonwoo’s mother opening the door again, this time she was the one in shock to see him.

“What are you doing here?” She asked curiously, Mingyu’s voice immediately followed after her own in urgency.

“I need to speak with Wonwoo.” He looked over the top of her head with ease, peering into the house hoping to spot the boy.

“No, you can’t-” She began to protest, but Mingyu looked down at her imploringly.

“No please, I have to talk to him. It’s urgent. I have to tell him something.” He rambled on, nerves finally taking over as the realness of the situation began to sink in. Was he really going to admit this to Wonwoo any second now? Mingyu unconsciously tried to take a step forward in eagerness.

“You can’t, Mingyu.” Wonwoo’s mom said more firmly, finally Mingyu took a step back to look at her properly.

“You can’t because he’s not here.”

He interpreted that one way.

“Okay then I’ll just wait.” Mingyu looked over her again, as if to suggest waiting inside for him if she would let him.

“When will he be back?” There was too much optimism in his voice.

“He won’t be.”

What?

Mingyu froze, thinking the worst. Thinking the absolute worst- that could only mean one thing.

“He’s gone to his uncle’s, Mingyu.” A mixed wave of emotions washed over Mingyu. It wasn’t the worst but... How did that mean he wouldn’t be back?

“What do you mean?” He managed to stutter a little.

“He’s preparing to move to University.” Wonwoo’s mom went on to explain.

“He wanted a clearer head, so he moved to his uncle’s who lives closer than us.”

“He won’t be back.”

Mingyu stood stunned into silence once more. It was like hitting replay on one of the worst moments in his life. He just couldn’t escape it.

“I’m sorry.” She finished, once again closing the door just as gently as the last time. Mingyu stood motionless.

It was over. He had lost Wonwoo.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: so that's the end!  
> I know this is my first time writing on here, but just so you all know I love angst and slow burn and bitter sweet endings haha
> 
> There is a sequel to come! College AU! Where everything will be rectified! So please stay tuned to that!
> 
> Meanwhile, I will shortly be publishing at Joshua and Jeonghan college AU fic too!
> 
> Thank you all for reading, leaving kudos and comments and bookmarking! I really appreciate it all ❤


End file.
